The Admiral's Daughter
by pixelatrix
Summary: Ofelia Hackett, Admiral's daughter, N7 and member of Spec Ops Team Delta, disappeared in the weeks following the destruction of the Normandy. Two years or so later, Shepard's back, the Normandy's back but Ofelia is still missing and presumed dead. Shep/OC. Follows ME3 storyline with slight AU twist.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: **

**Artistic Mishap has a great story called Forfeit that involves Hackett being a father. It's a brilliant story. And this idea has been rolling around in my head for a while. **

**Story is definitely AU, though I'm trying not to mess with the actual storyline of the game too much. Just adding a character. There may or may not be a romantic triangle at some point featuring Shepard, Ofelia and Vega... =)  
**

**And no worries, I'm still working on my various other stories. I just seem to work better when I can hop from story to story, I have less writer's block when I do that. **

**Shout out to my Beta:** PestoMonkey

**Bioware owns All…except for Ofelia Hackett, that's my character. lol**

**Read. Enjoy. Review. I appreciate reviews, they keep me inspired to write more. =)**

"Shepard! Stop for a moment," Liara raced out of the elevator onto the CIC with a datapad in hand. She handed it to Shepard. "You need to see this."

"What…" he glanced down at the message.

_Shepard,_

_ Where are you? _

_ I need help._

_ Fia_

"When was this sent?"

"It was sent the week that the original _Normandy_ was destroyed." Liara pulled up a vid on her omni-tool. "I found this amongst several other files on the Shadowbroker's servers from several weeks after your funeral."

The vid showed an Alliance officer being chased by several mercs across the Zakera Ward. The young woman disappeared into a hallway then the cameras suddenly went blank. Shepard watched Liara pull up a magnified image of her face. She was beautiful, with spiky blue hair and a familiar pair of blue eyes. There were two sets of scars like claw marks that stretched from her right cheek down to the right side of her neck. The Commander reached out to trace the scars on the screen.

"Are there any other sightings of her after the vid? Did you find any other messages on the server?" He handed the datapad back to Liara. "Have you informed Hackett?"

"No on all counts," Liara shook her head. "Why get his hopes up if they killed her years ago?"

"We have to find her…or at least find out for certain what happened to her. Where the hell has she been for the last two years?" Shepard rubbed his hand across his forehead vigorously.

"EDI is helping me hunt through all the footage from the time that she disappeared until the explosion at her apartment a week or two later. They never did identify the body that was found in the wreckage." Liara followed the Commander over to the Galaxy Map. "We will find something."

"Are you certain that she hasn't tried to contact me any other time?" Shepard clenched his hands around the railing.

"No." Liara glanced down at her hands. "I am sorry, Shepard."

"Find her."

*Two Days Later*

"You have new messages at your private terminal, Commander," Traynor informed Shepard when he stepped off the elevator.

"Thanks."

Shepard pulled up his messages. Most weren't all that interesting, just updates on the status of the war along with the promised dossier from Anderson on Kai Leng. He was just about to step back when the last message caught his attention. It was from Zaeed. Massani claimed to have news for Shepard regarding a missing girl. While Joker re-routed back to the Citadel, the Commander informed Vega and Alenko to suit up. Two hours later, the three marines found their way to one of the private apartments on the Presidium.

"'Bout goddamn time you got here," Zaeed waved Shepard over. "Did you have to bring an entourage with you?"

"Always a pleasure," Shepard grinned and reached out to shake the mercs hand. "It's good to see you again. What's this about a missing girl?"

"You're always straight to the point," Zaeed laughed. "I overheard that piss-ant Vosque bragging about some Alliance chick that he traded to Cerberus a while back. I wouldn't normally give two shits about the Alliance, but he said she kept screaming out for Commander Shepard."

"Where is he?" Shepard's fists clenched at his side.

"Funny thing that," Zaeed started to walk towards a room in the back. "He seems to be a little tied up at the moment."

Shepard stepped into the room to find the current Blue Suns leader secured to a chair. He waited patiently for the others to enter and the door to close. Then he turned towards Vosque.

"Who did you give to Cerberus?" Shepard crossed his arms and glared down at the man.

"Fuck you."

Shepard uncrossed his arms and then without warning slammed his fist into Vosque's gut. "Wrong answer asshole, shall we try this again?"

Vosque was silent until Shepard started to raise his fist for a second time. "She said her name was Ofelia. The little bitch kept whining about Commander Shepard."

"Where is she?" Shepard found it difficult to restrain his temper.

"No idea."

Shepard's fist connected with Vosque's face. "Wrong again."

Darner spat blood at the Commander in response.

Shepard's hand shot out again this time with a pistol in it. He held the pistol to the merc's temple. "You have five seconds to answer my question."

"They took her to a Cerberus lab. I don't know where." Vosque trembled. "I think it was Noveria."

"Commander?" Vega spoke after a long silence.

Shepard glanced back at Vega while still holding the gun on the man tied to the chair. With a sigh, Shepard pulled back the gun from his head.

"The little bitch wouldn't have lasted long," Vosque laughed.

Shepard's slammed his pistol into the man's face, knocking him to the floor. "I'll leave him in your capable hands, Zaeed."

"Hear that Vosque? You stupid bastard." Massani watched Shepard storm out of the room before turning his attention back to the merc on the floor.

"Hey Loco, who the hell is Ofelia?" Vega asked while trying to keep up with the Commander who was racing back towards the docking bay. "Commander?"

Shepard stopped just inside the airlock. "The long answer is that I'm a spacer brat; most of my life has been spent on Alliance vessels. Fia was another spacer kid. Her father was Navy. Her mother never married her father, and pretty much abandoned her at birth. She spent a lot of time on the same ships that I was on. We were…close. She joined the Alliance a couple years after me. The last that I heard, she had been assigned to Spec Ops Team Delta and had completed her N7 training."

"Even with being in Spec Ops, why the hell would she be a top priority for Cerberus?" Alenko followed Shepard back onto the _Normandy_.

"Tell Joker to head for Noveria, I need to speak with Liara." Shepard headed out of the airlock.

"What's the short answer?" Vega stepped out behind him.

"Her full name is Ofelia Hackett."

Vega and Alenko exchanged glances while Shepard stormed away. Shepard leaned back against the elevator wall and tried to get his heart rate to return to normal. It had taken all his strength not to pull the trigger on Vosque. Though knowing Massani, he might as well have done the deed himself.

"Shepard?"

He glanced up to find Liara waiting for him to exit the elevator. "We have a lead."

"I know. I was able to find an additional message that was never sent to you on her personal extranet account." Liara hesitantly placed a datapad in his hands.

Shepard nodded his thanks and then stepped into lounge to read the message in private.

_ Shepard,_

_ They tell me that you are dead. _

_ Dead._

_ Hackett wants me to speak at your funeral. I told him to fuck off. Not my best moment. _

_How the hell could you die on me? You always have to get the last damn word. I know you were pissed that I joined spec ops, but dying seems a little dramatic._

…_._

_What the hell am I going to do in a Universe that doesn't have you in it? What's the point? _

_Damn you. Damn you._

The message ended there. Shepard's hands tightened around datapad.

"I am so sorry," Shepard whispered.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: **

**Warning, potential triggers, some mention of torture though nothing graphic.**

**Shout out to my Beta:** PestoMonkey

**Bioware owns All…except for Ofelia Hackett, that's my character. lol**

**Read. Enjoy. Review. I appreciate reviews, they keep me inspired to write more. =)**

"Did you hear that?" Vega spun around in a slow circle trying to pinpoint the location of the tapping sound.

Shepard and Alenko were going through various files left in the lab on Noveria. They had cleared out the Cerberus troops already and Cortez was tasked with watching for any further incoming soldiers. Vega moved towards a stack of crates in the corner. He began carefully checking crate after crate until he found one that seemed to be shaking ever so slightly. It took several tries but finally, he managed to pry the lid off of it.

"Madre de Dios," he glanced horrified into the container. "Loco, you really need to see this."

"What is it, James?" Shepard raced over with Alenko on his heels.

Vega stepped aside to allow Shepard a better view. James followed Shepard's gaze down a slender chain that extended into the crate, ending at shackles binding a frail woman with a hood covering her head and upper body. The tapping sound had come from the chains being banged against the sides of the container. There were obvious signs of torture and starvation. Bruises stood in stark contrast to her pale skin.

"Fucking Cerberus," Vega muttered.

"Bastards," Shepard nodded in agreement then knelt down to gently remove the hood. "My god, Fia!"

"Shepard?" Alenko looked up from where he was trying to release the chains.

"Fia? Ofelia?" Can you hear me? It's John." Shepard ignored the questioning glances while he checked her pulse.

"John?" Fia's head turned slowly until her haunted blue eyes met his.

Alenko finally managed to hack the lock on the chains and eased them from her wrists. Shepard ignored Vega's offer of assistance, he reached in to lift her gently out of the container. He raced through the lab and out towards the shuttle with Vega and Alenko close behind. He yelled for Cortez to tell Chakwas to prep for a patient. Once in the shuttle, he lightly placed Fia down into a seat.

"What did they do to you?" Shepard asked while Vega applied medi-gel to her visible wounds to help at least with the pain. "How long have they had you?"

Fia's eyes seemed to be having trouble focusing. She glanced towards Shepard slowly. "Months? Years? Enough to keep me awake for the rest of my life."

"What did Cerberus want with you?" Vega handed Shepard an emergency blanket to wrap around Ofelia's trembling shoulders.

"Information," she coughed a few times before Alenko handed her a glass of water.

"Incoming message from Admiral Hackett," Cortez interrupted before Fia could continue.

Shepard spared a glance at the pale Ofelia before stepping in front of the Comm screen.

"Admiral Hackett."

"Shepard," Hackett greeted. "Did you find anything of interest on Noveria?"

"More than we anticipated, Sir."

"How so?" Hackett frowned.

"We found an N7 that Cerberus was torturing for information. She was left in a crate. Lieutenant Vega found her." Shepard looked over at Vega.

"Alive?"

"Barely," Shepard nodded.

"Have you been able to identify her, Shepard?"

Shepard was silent for a long moment. He started to speak but Fia nudged him with her foot. Vega reached down to help her stand and then limp over to the Comm.

"Admiral," she greeted while Shepard took her arm to offer additional support.

"Fia?" Hackett was stunned into silence. "You're alive? I…"

"Yes, sir." She attempted a salute but her body gave out. Vega rushed forward to help her back to the bench.

Shepard stepped back up to speak with Hackett. "She's still a little weak at the moment, sir."

"You keep her safe, Commander. You keep her safe." Hackett ordered. "I'll rendezvous with the _Normandy_ in a few hours. Hackett out."

"He really needs to expand his vocabulary." She laughed before passing out.

Shepard darted forward to catch her before she hit the floor. "Cortez, move faster."

Three hours later, Admiral Hackett paced the floor in the conference room waiting for Doctor T'soni and Shepard to get the vid working. Vega and Alenko had positioned themselves near the door. EDI had assisted the doctor in cobbling together the extensive footage that they had taken from the Cerberus lab. While Chakwas worked to stabilize his daughter's condition, Hackett insisted on seeing what the bastards had done to her.

He found himself regretting that decision just minutes into watching the footage. Cerberus had used just about every torture method available on Ofelia. Hackett's fists were clenched so tightly around his hat that it was crushed completely. Alenko had fled the room in disgust while Vega periodically cursed in Spanish. T'soni moved the vid forward to the one part with any audible dialogue. It was also the most recent footage, filmed just days ago. Cerberus had tried to destroy all the evidence at the lab and in the process most of the audio had been stripped from the footage.

"_Where is Admiral Hackett? Where is Shepard? We know the fleets are gathering and we know that you have access to all the codes to get us into their network." The Cerberus tech began touching buttons on a nearby terminal. "How much electricity do you think your body can handle before you tell me?"_

"_Fuck you," Ofelia's voice was hoarse._

"_That can be arranged." The tech smirked before touching another button on the panel. He waited for the screams before he hit the button again to stop the shocks then repeated his question._

"_Fuck you."_

_The words caught in her throat as the electricity once again race through her body._

"_Just kill me," she gasped once the pain subsided. "I have no information to give you. Tell the Illusive Man that I would never betray Hackett or Shepard, let alone the Alliance."_

_This time the tech slammed his fist into her multiple times. "How do we reach Hackett? What happened to Shepard?"_

_Ofelia spat blood into his face. "Shepard is dead. You have had me for months, how the hell do you expect me to have any current information?"_

_Before the tech could continue, he was ordered to lock her into a container then delete all evidence. Alarms began to sound in the lab before the video faded away._

Hackett stared in stunned disbelief at the Shepard. "When you find the Illusive Man, Commander, and you will find him, but when you find him, make it a long, slow, painful death."

Shepard's jaw was so tightly clenched that his only response was to nod slowly. Doctor Chakwas chose that moment to rush in with an update. Ofelia's injuries, while severe, were no longer life-threatening. Chakwas insisted on at least a week of bed rest to help her body stabilize. Shepard and Liara stepped out to go over the best way to accommodate the Doc's orders with Traynor.

"Is she awake?" Hackett turned to the doctor.

"No, but you can go up to see with her if you like." Chakwas stepped aside to let him exit the room. He stopped in the doorway and turned back. "Yes, Admiral?"

"How is she really doing?" Hackett reached out to place a hand on her arm.

"She'll heal physically without question. I have no way to gauge the severity of the non-physical injuries."

Moments later, Hackett stood at the threshold of the Medbay watching Ofelia sleep. Chakwas had a few more tests to run so he stood guard at the door. Her arms were pale, too pale and thin, way too thin. The parts of her that were visible seemed to be completely covered in bruises. A quiet cough drew his attention to the patiently waiting Commander behind him.

"We fought the last time we got together." Shepard's hands were tightly clenched. "It was supposed to be drinks to celebrate our promotions, mine to the _Normandy_, though it was rather late to celebrate that. And I thought we were celebrating her assignment to Arcturus."

"I tried to keep her there." Hackett stepped away from the Medbay and headed towards the lounge to find a drink. "She was not amused. I couldn't change her mind when Delta Team offered her a spot."

Shepard poured a drink for both of them once they got to the bar. "We argued rather loudly about her N7 designation and about special ops. It was dangerous. Doran finally threw us out of Flux. It's the last time that I saw her or spoke to her. The hunt for Saren kept me occupied and by then, it was too late."

"Were you screwing my daughter?" Hackett turned sharp eyes calmly towards Shepard.

Shepard sprayed the liquor he had just sipped everywhere. He paused to wipe the moisture away from his face before responding. "No, I…"

Hackett waved off the stammering Commander. "She was in love with you, did you know that?"

Shepard dropped into a nearby chair. He looked like he'd been punched in the stomach for a split second before he erased all outwards signs of emotion from his face. He leaned forward to carefully set his glass on the table. "No, that's not possible."

"Ofelia never showed much emotion. I'll never forget the day that her mother abandoned her to my care. She was so young, so small. She stood in the corner of my quarters with anger flashing in her eyes, tiny fists clenched at her sides, no tears, and no screaming, just quiet defiance." Hackett wandered over to the viewing window. "I should have kept her with me, but there was no time. I had a career. So your parents offered to help with her care. She never complained about being bounced around from ship to ship."

"She talked about you quite a bit when we were younger."

Hackett glanced back at Shepard. "I wanted her to speak at your funeral, she refused. She gave me that angry look. I knew then that she loved you…more than loved you perhaps. There's no other reason that she'd refuse to speak at her best friend's funeral."

Shepard seemed to still be having trouble finding the right words. "She never said anything."

"Why would she? Let's face it, Shepard; we are cut from the same cloth. She's spent her life competing with our all-consuming military careers." Hackett tapped his finger on the edge of his glass. "I think she finally just gave up and decided if she couldn't beat us that joining was the next best option."

"She should have told me. I…"

Hackett never found out what Shepard intended to say. The Doc rushed in to announce that Ofelia was awake. The two men glanced briefly at each other then raced out of the room. Shepard stepped back to allow the Admiral to enter first.

"Miss me?" Fia's tired eyes seemed to pierce through both of them. "It's lovely to see you both. Now please go away."

Before they could respond, she drifted out of consciousness again.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: **

**Shout out to my Beta:** PestoMonkey

**Bioware owns All…except for Ofelia Hackett, that's my character. Lol**

**I had to do a timeline on paper last night to keep Ofelia & Shepard's Alliance history straight. But for the purposes of this story, Shepard's path was Spacer & War Hero(Elysium). Ofelia joined the Alliance two years after Shepard did.**

**Thanks for the follows and reviews, of all my story ideas, I've been most nervous about this one for some reason.**

**Read. Enjoy. Review. I appreciate reviews, they keep me inspired to write more. =) **

Fia woke to find herself in a strange hospital bed. Her mind was fuzzy on the past few hours and days to be honest. The sterile smell of the hospital room brought flashes of torture back to her mind. Her heart rate rose with the panic racing through her. Reality and memory were starting to blur for her.

She yanked the wires off her body and slid from under the sheets to the floor. Her legs were not cooperating, however, and she had to grip the edge of the bed to keep from falling to the floor. She was halfway to the door when a familiar insignia on the far wall caught her eye.

"What the hell are you doing out of bed?"

She looked away from the Alliance crest and turned toward a vaguely familiar figure by the door. "I know you, don't I?"

"Lieutenant James Vega." Vega moved forward to help her back to the bed.

She reached out a hand to run her fingers along the tattoo on the Lieutenant's neck. "You were the one who found me."

"That would be me."

"He wasn't the only one." Shepard's voice held an edge that caused Fia to yank her hand away from Vega's neck.

"Yes, but I was the one with all the style." Vega grinned at Fia keeping his head turned towards her and away from Shepard.

"Lieutenant, don't you have somewhere else to be?" Shepard's question sounded more like a command.

Fia shot Shepard an annoyed look then grinned when she caught Vega's wink before he turned to head out of the room. Shepard's eyes narrowed but he turned his attention back to the woman on the bed. He reached down to pull the blanket up over on her. Fia sighed and pushed it back down.

"You were dead." She eased herself back against the pillow. "They had a funeral and everything."

"I just couldn't let you have the last word." Shepard perched on the edge of her bed. "You weren't at my funeral?"

FIa leaned her head back against the pillow to stare up at the ceiling. "There's a memorial for your on Elysium. It's beautiful. It's really too beautiful for a memorial to a marine. I left a bottle of beer there for you."

"That's not an answer."

Fia closed her eyes to avoid Shepard's gaze. "Eulogies aren't my thing. I couldn't face…"

Shepard reached out to gently hold her hand. "Face what?"

"An empty box."

"And an angry father," Hackett walked over and took a seat beside the bed.

"The empty box could be ignored. He likes to yell when he's angry." Fia opened her eyes and glanced between the two men with a sinking feeling. "Is this the big debrief?"

"Commander, Traynor asked me to pass on some Intel." Vega stepped back into the room. He walked over to Shepard and whispered in his ear. Shepard stood and pulled Hackett across the room for another whispered conversation.

Fia's eyes narrowed. "That's just rude.

"Lioncita." Vega grinned at her.

"Little lion?" She quirked an eyebrow up at Vega. "Does Shepard have a nickname?"

"Loco."

"It's not the worst one that he's had." Fia reached out to grab Vega's hand to pull him closer.

"Oh really?" Vega leaned in closer.

"Yep." Fia was momentarily lost in his brown eyes.

"Care to share?" Vega prompted.

"No, she wouldn't." Shepard resumed his position on the edge of the bed.

"Are you ready to talk?" Hackett ignored the younger men.

Fia shrugged then winced at the pull to her still sore muscles. Shepard motioned for Vega to leave but she reached out to grasp James' hand. She met the Commander's annoyed gaze daring him to comment. Hackett cleared his throat loudly and pointedly.

"Focus, Shepard." Fia released James' hand and winked at her father. "Ask your damn questions."

"Did you give Cerberus any information?" Shepard seemed to regret the question the moment that he said it.

"Ahh Shepard, you were never one to mince words," Fia laughed. "Did I give them information? No, I didn't fucking give them information. You were dead. I had nothing on the fleets. They asked about the scars. They asked a lot of oddly personal questions about you. It was weird."

"Scars?" Vega asked while Shepard and Hackett exchanged knowing looks. "I was wondering where you got your scars."

Fia reached a hand up to the scars on her face. "Akuze."

"You were on Akuze."

She nodded at James then turned her attention to her father. "What's with the looks?"

"The Illusive Man is a devious bastard." Shepard answered for him.

"Why didn't you come to me for help?" Hackett's voice was strained. "How the hell did they capture you?"

"Avarice is the worst trait in humanity." Fia remarked offhand.

"Avarice?"

There were three very confused faces staring back at her.

"The answers to your questions are connected by greed. When I managed to evade the mercs on the Citadel in one piece, I went to the safest place that I could think of." Hackett huffed indignantly and she glanced over at him for a moment. She finally continued with a slight clarification. "Ok, fine, the second safest place that I could think of to hide."

"Which is?" Vega prompted after a moment of silence.

"Your mom?" Shepard guessed.

Fia nodded.

"Your mother? You wouldn't even send me a message but you went to her?" Hackett's voice shook with anger.

"If it's any consolation, I paid dearly for my mistake."

"It isn't." Hackett glanced over at Shepard before turning back to his daughter.

"It wasn't my best plan." Fia studiously avoided her father's gaze. "At the time, it seemed like a brilliant idea until I woke up with a shotgun in my face. The bitch sold me out for credits and a mountain of red sand."

"I'll kill her," Hackett spoke through clenched teeth.

"Cerberus beat you to the punch." Fia finally looked in his direction. "They mistakenly thought that torturing her would convince me to talk. They were wrong. The last that I heard, they'd put a bullet through her head."

"I'd like a moment with my daughter…_alone."_ Hackett waited for the two men to leave before turning back to her.

Fia decided that the blanket was very interesting and stared at it intensely. Her fingers pulled at the edges while she tried to think of something to say. Finally the weight of her father's gaze caused her to look up, she'd always found it difficult to take his silence.

"What?" She broke the silence first.

He laughed for a moment, and then the humor faded. "Why didn't you come to me?"

It was the question that she had been dreading. She looked down at the calloused hands that reached out to hold hers. She'd always loved the strength that she felt in her father's hands. There was a comfort that nothing else in the world held.

"It was too late." She finally answered with a tiny shrug.

"Too late?"

"I didn't go quietly when they found me at Mom's. I tried to get a message off to you." She risked a quick glance up into his eyes. "It was just too fucking late."

"Why her?"

That was the other question that she had desperately not wanted to have to answer.

"Dad."

He gripped her hands even tighter. "Why her? Why not come to me?"

"Because I was angry with you and mostly because it was easier than admitting I was in trouble to the great Fleet Admiral." She looked away from the brief flash of pain in his eyes. "I wanted to not run to _daddy_ for help."

"I see."

Fia felt him start to pull away and she clutched his hands tightly in her own. "And I was wrong, dad. I was tragically mistaken."

"I am going to need a vid of that just for reference purposes." He winked at her.

"Dad, I'm sorry. I was so angry about Shepard and how you both reacted to my promotion. Mom said…a lot of things that I was stupid enough to believe." Fia explained.

"What things?" Hackett's eyes narrowed.

"I…"

Before Fia could think up a good enough lie, Shepard strode back into to the room and began whispering in her dad's ear. She tried to eavesdrop but the only words she could catch didn't make any sense – _not dead_. She glared at Shepard but he ignored her and immediately left the room with the Admiral close on his heels. Leaning back on the pillow, she stared up at the ceiling trying to figure out what the hell was going on. She'd kill for an omni-tool to hack into Shepard's messages.

"Do you need anything?" Vega stepped into the room and moved over to the bed.

Fia turned innocent eyes towards the Lieutenant. "Yes."


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: **

**Shout out to my Beta:** PestoMonkey who is amazing and always gives me good ideas.

**Bioware owns All…except for Ofelia Hackett, that's my character. Lol**

**Thanks for the follows and reviews.**

**Read. Enjoy. Review. I appreciate reviews, they keep me inspired to write more. =) **

It wasn't entirely fair to charm Vega into bringing an omni-tool to her. Desperate times called for seductive measures. It was a lesson that her mother had taught her. She spent several hours catching up on current events in general and Shepard events specifically. The things that she found on the extra-net were hard to believe.

"How the hell did you get your hands on an omni-tool already?" Shepard watched her with an amused look on his face.

Fia turned angry eyes towards him.

"What's wrong?" Shepard moved closer towards her with concern evident on his face.

"Cerberus," she spat the word at him like a bullet. "You worked with those bastards. How could you? Even if you didn't know that they had me, you fucking knew what they did to me and my squad on Akuze."

"It's…it was complicated." Shepard clenched his hands at his sides.

"Complicated?" Fia felt like her head was going to implode. "I spent two years going over and over that last conversation we had. I thought about all the things that I wish I had said and all the words I wanted to take back. That is what occupied my mind while I was being tortured."

"Fia…"

"And you fucking bastard, you were working with them." Fia's voice was getting louder and starting to draw an audience. "Tell me something, Shepard, did you even stop to look for me? Did you check to see if I was really dead?"

"I…"

"I bet you didn't even visit my grave." Fia ignored Shepard's attempts to explain. "No wonder they wanted all that personal information about you. This whole time I felt so fucking pissed off at my dad, but it wasn't even about him. It wasn't about the Alliance or the fleets. Cerberus grabbed me to get to you."

"That isn't entirely fair or accurate." Hackett stepped into the room and placed a hand on Shepard's shoulder.

"Did he even ask about me?" Fia glanced between the two men.

Shepard turned away but not before she caught a glimpse of the tears in his eyes. Her anger drained away almost immediately. She knew that she wasn't being fair. Her dad had always taught her not to take her anger out on the wrong people. She waved Hackett out of the room. He hesitated for a moment but then left them alone.

"Come here, Shep." Fia patted the edge of the bed. "Please."

"I've thought back to our last argument so many times." Shepard ignored her request. His feet seemed frozen to the ground. His voice broke a little when he finally continued. "Your apartment on the Citadel was the first place that I visited only to find that it was destroyed in an explosion. I knew then that you were gone. Hackett told me where he had set up a memorial of sorts and buried the body that was found in the wreckage. I went to your grave before I turned myself in to the Alliance."

Fia closed her eyes for a moment and when she opened them, he was gone. She rolled her eyes and with a huge sigh, she pushed off the bed and started for the door. It took several minutes but she made it to the elevator without assistance. She passed Vega who suggested that she try the Commander's quarters.

A surprised Shepard opened his cabin door to find an exhausted Fia leaning against the wall. She shuffled forward but only managed to collapse into his arms. He muttered about obstinate, hard-headed people while carrying her into his quarters and setting her down on the couch.

"You're supposed to be in bed." Shepard sat beside her on the couch. He reached out to apply medi-gel but she shoved him away.

"I wasn't finished being a total bitch to you." Fia leaned over until her head rested against his shoulder.

He looked down at the bruises that were still visible on her arms. He reached out to gently brush his fingers along the bruises. "I would've spared you this if I could have. I would have given myself to them instead."

"Well that would have been completely pointless." Fia rolled her eyes. "It's easy to get pissed off at you, but really hard to stay that way."

Shepard lifted his arm and draped it lightly around her. "We always did fight dirty."

"Guerilla warfare."

"Indeed," Shepard laughed. "Do you remember the time we snuck on a shuttle headed for Arcturus?"

"I remember that you blamed it on my bad influence." Fia closed her eyes.

"It didn't work." Shepard rested his head on top of hers. "Hackett tore me a new one when we stepped off the shuttle."

"It was your bright idea."

"It was only half my bright idea. You suggested that we go to Arcturus in the first place." Shepard tapped his finger on her arm.

"Semantics."

"I never did find out what punishment he gave you." Shepard looked at her out of the corner of his eye.

"Punishment?" Fia cracked her eyes open. "I don't remember."

"Liar."

"Why were you so against my assignment to spec ops?" Fia abruptly changed subjects.

Shepard reached out to run a gentle finger along the scars on her face. "You barely survived Akuze. All I could think of was the time that Hackett made me promise to keep you safe. "

"Men." Fia glared up at him. "Honestly, you barely survived Elysium. I wasn't freaking out when you made N7. I needed you to be pleased for me…to be proud of me."

"Me?"

"Ok, fine, mostly my dad. It's always been easier to be pissed off with you for agreeing with him than to be angry with him." She elbowed him in the side.

"I was wrong and so was he. And for what it's worth, I was proud of you. I've always been proud of you. You kicked my ass in everything. I just…I just wanted you to be safe." Shepard's arm tightened around her.

"We found her." Hackett strode into the room without waiting for an invitation. "Ofelia? Aren't you supposed to be on bedrest?"

"I'm resting." Fia's eyes narrowed on her father. "And there's a bed over there. So, who did you find? Mom?"

"You hacked my messages." Shepard hazarded a guess.

"Hack is such a dirty word. Is it really hacking when I knew the code?" She winked at Shepard who winked back.

"How the hell do you know his password?" Hackett's annoyed gaze shifted from his daughter to the commander.

"It's not all that complicated. His password is…"

"…not important." Shepard wrapped his hand around her mouth to silence her.

Hackett's eyes narrowed on Shepard while Fia tried not to laugh. She licked the palm of his hand and he immediately yanked it away.

"Are you two quite finished?" Hackett crossed his arms against his chest.

"Oh, I remember that look." Fia grinned at Shepard before sending her father a knowing look. "Where is she?"

"Commander Bailey is holding Patricia on the Citadel," Hackett responded.

"Good." Fia sat up and ran a hand through her mussed up hair. "I've got a lot of catching up to do with mommy dearest."

"Absolutely not," her father insisted at the same moment Shepard shot out a vehement,  
"Hell no."

"Is that your joint opinion?" She glanced between the two men. "Let me make something perfectly clear to both of you. I am not going to sit on my fucking ass while you interrogate the person who turned me over to Cerberus."

"Language." Hackett frowned at her.

"English." Fia stood and stepped towards her father. "I'll be there or I swear that the minute I am medically cleared, I'll join the fight on Earth on the front lines."

"I'll reassign you to the Crucible." Hackett called her bluff.

"Shepard." Fia turned her attention towards the man on the couch.

"Yes?"

"Convince him, or I'll tell him what your password refers to." Fia left them to mull it over and headed slowly back to the Med Bay.

Hackett watched her leave then turned back to Shepard. "What the hell is your password?"

Shepard shook his head. "There is no way in hell that I'm telling you that. Just let her go with us."

"I could make it an order." Hackett took pity on him. "But I won't. We should be at the Citadel within the hour. Bailey can escort Patricia onto the _Normandy._"

Shepard found Fia once again resting in the Med Bay moments later with Doctor Chakwas running more tests. He waited patiently until the doc was done then asked for privacy.

"We'll interrogate your mother on the _Normandy_ so that you can be there." Shepard leaned against the nearby desk. "How _did _you know the password?"

"It's the same as mine." She kept her eyes focused on the floor.

"Is it really?" Shepard stepped forward and lifted her chin with his fingers until she met his gaze. "I…"

"You never forget your first time." Fia watched the emotions playing across Shepard's face.

"Your first time for what?" Hackett spoke from the now open door.

"Uhm." Fia shot a panicked look at Shepard who looked at least one shade paler. "Cake."

"Cake?" Hackett's eyebrows shot up. "You can do better than that."

"Admiral Hackett?" Vega rapped his knuckles on the side of the open doors. "Joker said you wanted to be informed when we docked at the Citadel."

"This conversation is not over." Hackett left the room motioning for Shepard to follow him.

"Vega, I swear, I could kiss you." Fia breathed a sigh of relief.

"Really?"

"No, not really," Shepard answered sharply then grabbed Vega by the collar and dragged him out of the room.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: **

**Shout out to my Beta:** PestoMonkey who is amazing and always gives me good ideas.

**Bioware owns All…except for Ofelia Hackett, that's my character. Lol**

**Thanks for the follows and reviews.**

**Read. Enjoy. Review. I appreciate reviews, they keep me inspired to write more. =) **

"I am not meeting her in a fucking hospital gown so someone is going to find me a pair of dress blues." Fia glared first at Shepard then at the Doctor.

"I still think this is dangerous for your recovery," Chakwas offered her reservations once again.

"Duly noted, and with all due respect, I simply do not give a fuck. That bitch left me to die. I will not miss the chance to see the look on her face when she realizes that I'm alive." Fia shrugged off the Doc's concerns.

"Commander?" Chakwas looked to Shepard for support.

"I learned a long time ago not to argue with a Hackett. And Fia is definitely filled with Hackett stubbornness." Shepard grinned. "She comes by it naturally.

"Is that so?" Hackett stepped into the room carrying a large box. He set the package on the bed next to her. "Consider this two years' worth of presents."

"Presents?" Fia glanced suspiciously at her father. "You are not bribing me out of seeing her."

"I'm hurt." Hackett glanced over at the Doctor who was trying to get his attention.

Fia rolled her eyes at her father then reached down to lift the lid off the package. She glanced inside then immediately looked back up at her dad in surprise.

"There was an explosion at your apartment after you disappeared. It destroyed pretty much everything inside." Hackett answered her unspoken question before turning to Chakwas and following her out of the room.

Fia frowned at the two then turned back to Shepard. She waved him over to the bed. He tossed the lid to her package aside and sat on the edge of the bed. Reaching inside the box, he pulled out a smaller one.

"This is my small contribution." He opened the smaller box and placed an omni-tool in her hand.

"Where in the hell did you get this? It's barely out of prototype phase." She stared in awe at the omni-tool.

"A friend _borrowed_ it for me." Shepard tossed the empty box aside and helped her attach the omni-tool. His hand lingered for a moment longer than necessary on hers. "Now you won't have to trick my crew into giving their omni-tools to you."

Fia reached out to pull him into a hug. She ignored the frown that her father sent their direction. She pretended not to notice when the Commander tightened his arms around her. The slight hitch in his breath let her know how much he had been worried for her. She leaned her forehead against his chest and simply enjoyed the warmth of his embrace for a moment. A slight cough from the direction of the door caused them both to jump apart. Sparing an annoyed glance at her father, Fia turned her attention back to the larger box. The package contained several sets of Alliance uniforms including a new set of dress blues. Shepard pulled out the set of dogtags that were sitting at the bottom.

"I don't know what happened to my old set." She watched while he ran his fingers over the name and number on the tags. "They disappeared before I joined the Delta Team, and I never got around to getting a new set."

Shepard handed the tags over to her. She glanced up when he reached into his shirt to pull out his own tags. They looked oddly misshapen. He tossed them over to her. Turning them in her hand, she realized it was two sets of tags that had been fused together. The names were barely legible but one side held his name while the other had her Alliance ID number.

"I don't understand," Fia looked from the tags in her hand up to the Commander in confusion.

"I took your tags from your room before you kicked me out." Shepard stood and began pacing beside the bed. "I used to wear them on the same chain as my own. When the first _Normandy_ went down, they were in my cabin. I found them in the debris scattered on Alchera. They must have fused together after the attack. "

Fia's mouth fell open though no words came to mind. Her gaze dropped back down to the tags in her hand. Tears sprung to her eyes but she pushed them away with her other hand. Shepard plucked the tags out of her hand and draped them around his neck once again. He brushed the tears from under her eyes.

"Careful, your dad will court martial me for making you cry." He was trying to make her laugh. It had always been his fall back when she was upset or sad, even as kids.

"All this time, I thought…" She found it impossible to continue.

"You thought what?" Hackett stepped back over having finished his conversation with the Doc.

"Nothing," Fia just shook her head and turned back to the box.

"You'll also find a new set of N7 armor in the armory when the Doc says you are released for duty." Hackett let the matter rest for the moment. "Bailey will be bringing Patricia on board the moment that we dock. So you've got about thirty minutes to get ready."

"Dad." Fia motioned for him to come closer. She pulled him into a hug once he was close enough. "Thank you."

"I've got to coordinate…things." Hackett hugged her tightly then strode quickly out of the room.

Fia and Shepard exchanged knowing, amused glances. Her dad found overt displays of affection difficult to deal with. She'd spent a lot of time doing just that on purpose to make him squirm. Admirals don't squirm over just anything. Shepard lightly brushed her cheek with his fingers then followed Hackett out of the door.

Forty minutes later, Fia was pacing the floor in the mess while waiting to be called in to the conference room attached to the CIC. Pacing might have been a stretch; she was shuffling a few steps forward and a few back while the Doctor looked on disapprovingly. The dress blues had fit perfectly and it was almost comforting to be in them. Wearing them again let her put on the officer mask that had always gotten her through a lot of rough patches. She glanced up when Vega came around the corner.

"They're ready for you. They haven't told her that you're alive yet." Vega offered his arm for support.

"Thanks." She took it with a smile.

"Any time." He winked at her before leading her towards the elevator.

She was silent the entire ride up to the CIC and all the way to the conference room. Her mother was secured to a chair facing away from the entrance. Fia stood just outside the doorway to listen in to the conversation before announcing her presence.

"I had barely an ounce of red sand on me." Her mother was struggling against her bonds. "Stephen, make them let me go."

"Patricia." Hackett stared at the woman in disgust. "Where is _my_ daughter?"

"How the hell should I know? I haven't seen the little brat since you took her away. What's the matter? Did you lose her somewhere?" Her mom sneered at the Admiral. "We could always make another one."

Shepard placed a restraining hand on Hackett's shoulder. "We have reports that she was last seen in your company."

"Bullshit." Patricia shook her head in defiance. "That's bullshit."

Fia couldn't take it anymore. She stepped into the room and let Vega escort her over to Hackett. "Hello Patricia, did you miss me?"

The color completely drained from her mother's face. Fia almost felt sorry for the woman, almost, but what she had endured with Cerberus erased any potential pity that she might feel. Vega moved back over to the doorway to be prepared to intervene if necessary. Fia only had eyes for the woman in the chair though.

"Why?" Hackett asked the question that they were all thinking.

"The credits were really fucking good," Patricia shrugged.

"Was any of it true?" Fia was starting to regret wanting to be in the room for the interrogation.

"Any of what?" Hackett leaned over to whisper in her ear.

"The things that you told me, mom, was any of it true?" Fia ignored the Admiral's question. She wanted the answer desperately but elaborating further would mean hurting her father.

"For a smart girl, you were as easy to con as your father was to con into my bed. Though, the alcohol might have helped with that. Did you really believe that Hackett would have abandoned his child? Stupid little bitch, I never told him about you until I was in deep with a drug dealer. I got the credits and he got you. I always get the better end of deals." Patricia laughed. "Suck it up princess. Cerberus paid a shit-load of credits for you. I'm surprised that they let you go."

Fia clenched her fists in an effort to keep from launching herself at the woman. Hackett wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her tightly against his side. Shepard stepped around the Admiral in order to stand on Fia's other side. The Commander reached down to hold her hand in his own.

"Oh sure, you can all look down on the druggie. But I'll tell you this; she believed the lies, maybe not for long, but long enough for me to sell her to Cerberus." Patricia turned her venom from Hackett towards Shepard. "She talked about you a lot. Does the Admiral know what you did to his little girl?"

"Get her out of here." Fia whispered to the two men at her side. "Please, let Bailey handle it. Just get her the hell away from me."

Hackett looked at her with a mixture of concern and suspicion but finally he nodded in agreement. "Lieutenant Vega, please escort her back to Commander Bailey," Hackett ordered.

Fia glanced up at Shepard who was still holding tightly to her hand. He stopped her from speaking with a shake of his head. "Not here, let's go up to my quarters."

Shepard led her to the elevator then up to his quarters with Hackett close behind. The Commander poured out three shots of tequila while they took seats on the couch.

Hackett ignored the tequila and focused instead on Shepard. "What did you do to my daughter?"

Shepard and Fia both downed their tequilas almost in unison. Fia reached for Hackett's glass and drank that as well. The Commander refilled the glasses then set the bottle on the table. He took a seat beside Fia on the couch and they both studiously avoided the Admiral's gaze.

"It's complicated." Shepard stared at the glass in his hand.

"Does this have something to do with your password?" Hackett leaned back against the couch.

"Yes." Shepard emptied his glass again.

"No," Fia disagreed.

"Spit it out." Hackett appeared to be losing his patience.

"I..." Shepard lost the ability to speak for a moment. He reached for the bottle of tequila yet again and took a long swig then finally turned back to Hackett. "I got your daughter knocked up."

"In his defense, I was there for it." Fia tried to lighten tension that was suddenly making it difficult to breathe.

"I think I would remember my only daughter giving birth to my only grandchild." Hackett seemed to be trying to keep a tight rein on his temper.

"I had a miscarriage a few weeks in."

"And neither of you thought it was important to tell me about this?" Her father finally took the glass of tequila when Shepard offered it again.

"Not if we wanted to live," Fia attempted to laugh it off.

"So when exactly were you going to tell me that you slept with my daughter?" Hackett turned towards Shepard. "And what does this have to do with your password?"

Fia watched while Shepard tried to regain the ability to speak. She finally decided to answer for him. "His password refers to the first time and technically the last time that we...damn it, dad, do I really have to spell it out for you? I mean, you had me, you obviously know how it works."

"Oh." Hackett stood and paced the room for a moment; finally, he turned back to Shepard. "You should have told me."

"With all due respect sir, it was none of your damn business." Shepard's hand was so tightly clenched around his glass that Fia worried it would shatter.

"She's my damn daughter. It damn well is my business." Hackett stepped towards the Commander who was now standing.

Fia rolled her eyes and moved between the two men. She placed a hand on her father's chest and one on Shepard's. "_She_ has a name and a mind of her own. I made Shepard promise not to tell you about it. You will not be boneheads about this, either of you. If it is the end of the world, I will not spend it trying to keep the two most important men in my life from killing each other."

She left the two men to mull it over and headed back down to the Med-Bay. Men were exhausting.

Hackett exchanged a glance with Shepard once the door had closed. "Did she just call me a bonehead?"


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: **

**Shout out to my Beta:** PestoMonkey who is amazing and always gives me good ideas.

**Bioware owns All…except for Ofelia Hackett, that's my character. Lol**

**Thanks for the follows and reviews.**

**Read. Enjoy. Review. I appreciate reviews, they keep me inspired to write more. =) **

Shepard stepped out of the elevator and felt an immediate wave of annoyance wash over him. Fia sat on Vega's weapons table helping the Lieutenant strip and clean a set of Crusaders. The two had gotten close over the last week or so while Vega helped her go through physical therapy to get back up to fighting shape. It sent an unfamiliar rush of anger through him every time he saw them together. It was irrational and that just pissed him off even more.

He watched Vega lean his head forward until it almost touched Fia's. When she burst out laughing a moment later, Shepard almost snapped the datapad that he was holding in half. He ignored the amused glance that Cortez sent his way. His tolerance limit had clearly been reached so he strode over to interrupt.

"Shep." Fia looked up when he approached, laughter still lingered in her eyes.

"Hey Loco." Vega set the shotgun aside and reached for another one. "Did you finish your meeting with the Admiral?"

"Hackett's heading back to oversee the fleets and the Crucible. He just had a few last-minute things that he wanted to discuss." Shepard took the weapon from Fia's hand and tried to ignore the surge of adrenaline that raced through him when his fingers brushed hers. "We were talking about your options once you're all healed up."

"Don't bother." Fia's narrowed her eyes on Shepard. "He already tried to force me to take a _desk job_. Do I look like a desk job type of person? And no comments from the peanut gallery, Vega."

Vega raised his hands up in feigned innocence. "Who me?

"You could stay on the _Normandy_." Shepard tried to appear nonchalant. He wanted her on his ship so he could keep her safe, or at least, that's the reason he was willing to admit to himself.

"I'll have to stay until Chakwas clears me for duty. Fucking doctors." Fia was watching Shepard carefully and he knew that never boded well for anyone. "Major Atwell sent me a message this morning."

"Atwell?" Vega looked up from pistol that he was now working on.

"He was my Spec Ops squad leader." Fia turned towards him.

"What did the Major want?" Shepard pulled her attention back to him.

"You know what he wanted." Fia rolled her eyes at him. "That's why you're trying to pull that whole laid-back bullshit about whether I stay on the _Normandy_ or not."

Shepard lifted her off the table and set her gently on the ground. "Let's go get a drink and talk about it. Vega can finish up here. Plus, the doc wants to see you."

"God-damn it, what does she want now?" Fia waved at Vega then followed Shepard to the elevator.

Vega watched them leave with a slightly annoyed look on his face.

* * *

Five hours later, Vega heard periodic bursts of laughter that drew his attention when he stepped out of the crew quarters. He glanced down at his omni-tool to check the time: 0245 hours. _What pendejos were up at that time?_ He followed the sound all the way into the lounge. He wasn't sure what he expected to see inside, but it definitely wasn't what he found.

The Commander was lounging back in one of the chairs with Ofelia sitting opposite him. Shepard was tossing food at her which she was trying to catch in her mouth. Fia appeared to be holding a piece of bread to throw back at Shepard. The floor was evidence of their general failure to succeed in catching the bits of food. James found the scene equal parts amusing and disheartening. The closeness between the two at times like this was tangible.

"James."

He looked up just in time to catch a piece of bread square on his forehead. "Nice shot. I see the physical therapy is working."

Fia grinned at him. "Pull up a chair. We're just feeling a little nostalgic."

"Buzzed is what you're feeling." Shepard reached over to lift the empty bottle beside Fia's chair.

"Is that doctor approved?" Vega walked over to the bar to pour a shot of tequila for himself.

"As of several hours ago, I am cleared for duty. If I can shoot something, I can fucking drink." Fia raised her empty glass. "This was a celebration, I think."

"You think?" Vega leaned back against the bar.

"We took a drink every time we missed." Fia glanced at the mess on the floor. "We missed a lot."

"She missed a lot." Shepard held up his still full glass.

Vega was starting to feel like the third wheel. He didn't like the sensation. "So what's your next assignment?"

Shepard slammed his glass down with a thud. He sighed deeply before answering Vega's question. "She hasn't decided. And I need to go check in with Traynor. Good night."

Vega watched with a confused look on his face as Shepard stalked from the room. He turned towards Fia. "Was it something that I said?"

"Not exactly." Fia reached out to snag Shepard's glass. "Shep doesn't like to show his _non-Commander face _to the general public. My dad is the same way. I don't give a shit, which is obviously why I'll never have my own command."

"Never?"

"Never." Fia downed what was left in the glass then tossed the glass aside. She watched it skid across the floor and end up under a chair. "I don't have the ambition it requires. And I won't sacrifice relationships for a few extra bars on my dress blues. The bars tend to get really heavy."

"You sound…"

"Bitter?" Fia laughed a little too sharply.

Vega reached out and patted her hand. "I think you've had enough tequila."

"Is there such a thing?" Fia grinned at James. "That shirt is indecent."

Vega glanced down at his t-shirt. "What's wrong with it? I love this t-shirt."

She reached out to grasp his arm. "I can see your muscles."

"You have definitely had enough." Vega stood and reached down to help her up. "Let's get you back to your bunk."

"I need to make a pit-stop first." Fia redirected him towards the elevator.

"I don't think…"

Fia placed her fingers on his lip. "Thinking is very bad for you when you've been drinking. Just don't do it."

Vega eyes crossed when he tried to look down at her fingers. She stood up on her tip-toes to place a kiss on his cheek. Then she stumbled backwards into the elevator and waved as the doors closed.

"Light-weight." Vega shook his head then headed back to his bunk.

* * *

Fia watched the elevator numbers while they blurred in and out of focus. The elevator finally arrived at the top deck and she made her way to Shepard's door. She hacked the door successfully after a few tries. It was hard to break into someone's quarters when there appeared to be two omni-tools on your wrist. Fucking thing. The next time she decided to do this, she would make sure that she was fucking sober.

She glanced around the room then finally spotted Shepard under the covers of his bed. He appeared to be asleep. Fia briefly contemplated backing out of the room but decided her ninja-like sneaking abilities would allow her to reach her objective. The alcohol had other ideas. By the time that she reached the bed, she had managed to knock over several glasses, datapads and one of his stupid models onto the floor. _Who the hell keeps ship models on a ship?_

She sat gracefully on the edge of the bed and barely managed not to fall off. Shepard looked…peaceful. Sleep was the only time that little wrinkle between his eyebrows smoothed out. She reached out to touch her finger to his nose. His large hand shot up to capture her wrist.

"You've been hacking the door to my room since you were ten. Does it never occur to you to knock?" Shepard tugged on her hand and she tumbled back on the bed beside him.

"Not really, no." She scooted back until her head was resting on his chest. Her hand reached out to lift up the blanket. "Are you naked? Please be naked, it's always more fun when people get naked."

Shepard sighed very deeply before responding. "I am not completely naked."

"What does _completely _mean?" She craned her neck to get a better look under the blanket.

"Will you stop that?" He shoved her hand away and pulled the blanket back down. "I have shorts on."

"Oh shorts, are they blue? It's so your color."

"I'm in pain and the hangover hasn't even kicked in yet." Shepard stared up at the ceiling.

"I like Vega. He's cute." Fia rolled her eyes at him.

"Cute?"

"You heard me." Fia poked him in the side.

"He's a meathead."

"Ok first, that is not very nice. And second, if I didn't know better, I'd say you were jealous." She felt the tequila start to make the room spin a little.

"Of Jimmy Vega?" Shepard barked out a laugh.

"If you aren't jealous, then why are you being so testy about him?" Fia yawned and stretched out beside him more.

EDI's voice interrupted their conversation. "Commander Shepard, Admiral Hackett is requesting a vid-comm with his daughter; he indicates that it is important. Should I inform him that she will accept the message in your quarters?"

"No." Shepard glanced over at Fia with a slightly panicked look on his face.

"Hell no," Fia added in agreement.

"The Admiral is being rather insistent. Patching him through."

"Shit." Shepard shot out of bed not bothering to pull on a shirt or pants. Fia watched him race over to his terminal while trying not to laugh. This was definitely going to end badly.

"Commander Shepard. Why does EDI think my daughter is in your quarters at this time of night? It's after 0300." Hackett didn't bother to mince words.

"We were...I…the things is, Admiral..." Shepard's voice trailed off while Fia rolled off the bed laughing. He leaned around the corner to whisper at her. "You are not _helping._"

"Are you drunk, Commander?" Hackett frowned at Shepard.

"Not entirely."

Hackett just stared at him.

"I'll just go get Fia and some pants." Shepard motioned for Fia and she just shook her head. "I'll... don't go anywhere, sir."

Fia finally stood and headed over to the terminal when it became clear that Shep would drag her over to face the firing squad. "Hi dad, I'm wearing pants."

"Why are you in Shepard's room and why isn't _he_ wearing pants?" Her dad looked a little more apocalyptic than she was prepared to deal with.

"That is none of your damn business, and I don't know where his pants went. Hackett out." Fia disconnected the call then turned towards Shepard. "I've always wanted to do that to him. Think he'll mind?"

Shepard sank down on the bed with his head in his hands. "Drinking games with you always end badly."

"Buzz-kill." Fia wandered back over and sat next to him on the bed. "So can we get back to Vega?"

"No, and if you keep talking about him, I'm going to get your dad back on the vid-comm and tell him what happened to his hat." Shepard elbowed her in the side.

"It's on his head. You just saw it." She gave him a slightly confused look.

"Not that one, the one he had before that."

"Oh you are such a bastard. That's just wrong. And it wasn't completely my fault." She collapsed back on the bed with a sigh.

"Here's a clue for next time. Fire bad." Shepard grinned back at her.

"It was your idea to see if I could use my omni-tool to incinerate something." She threw a pillow at his head.

"Not at Admiral Hackett's _precious_ hat." Shepard ducked and the pillow sailed over his head.

"I wasn't aiming for the damn hat. It just happened to get in the way," she shrugged.

"What was the target?"

"Shh. I'm trying to go to sleep." She pulled her leg back and shoved him off the bed with her foot.

"You have a bed."

"I know, but this is so much more comfy. And you would make such a great blanket if you got your ass back in the bed." She yawned and closed her eyes. "Now shut it."

"You are a very demanding drunk." Shepard gave in to the inevitable and got back into bed. He stretched out next to her. "Seriously though, what were you trying to incinerate?"

Fia cracked one eye open to look at him. "I don't remember, but it wasn't his hat."

"Right." Shepard rolled over then reached out to pull her into his arms. She rested her head against his chest. "Why were you sneaking into my cabin?"

"I don't remember that either. I got all distracted by your naked bits." Fia ran her finger tips along his chest.

"I am _not_ naked."

"It would be so much more fun if you were." Fia yawned and closed her eyes again. "I think that I just didn't want to sleep alone. And I thought you'd get all testy if I tried to sleep in Vega's bunk."

"You aren't alone." Shepard tightened his arm around her. He listened while she slowly drifted to sleep. He rested his head on top of hers and thought of all the ways that Hackett was going to kill the both of them in the morning.


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: **

**This is a much darker chapter than the others in a variety of ways. There may be potential triggers for some; I'm trying to avoid anything graphic though. Just hints at things like PTSD, etc. Fia faces some of her darker demons in this chapter. **

**Sleep deprivation can cause among other things hand tremors, hallucinations etc…**

**Shout out to my Beta:** PestoMonkey who is amazing and always gives me good ideas.

**Bioware owns All…except for Ofelia Hackett, that's my character. Lol**

**Thanks for the follows and reviews.**

**Read. Enjoy. Review. I appreciate reviews, they keep me inspired to write more. =) **

Lying to Shepard came easily to Fia; he never seemed to expect her to deceive him. This resulted in him allowed her to set up a cot in Life Support when she mentioned it was difficult to sleep in the crew quarters. The dark, private corner of the ship had apparently been used by a drell who died during the coup attempt. It allowed her to hide from others and from herself.

Her explanation to him was simply that it was too cramped in the crew quarters. The truth was that for the last few nights since the doc released her to active duty, she'd woken up in a cold sweat. The nightmares started the moment the pain meds were out of her system. Her mind was clear enough for reality to creep back in. Sleep was practically non-existent at this point.

The darker demons came out in the dreams which blended with hallucinations of Shepard dying in her arms while Hackett walked away from her and her mother betrayed her. It always ended the same, with flashbacks of the longs months spent under the torturous hands of the Cerberus techs. It all jumbled up in her mind. It kept her drinking coffee 24/7 to stay awake, to keep everything at bay.

She finally grew tired of staring at the grey walls, so she a headed into the mess to make a fresh pot of coffee. It was 0500 and the rest of the crew wouldn't wander in for at least another hour.

"Up early?"

Fia jumped and dropped the coffee cup that she was clutching. She turned to find Major Alenko sitting at the table going over a report. He watched while she cleaned up the spilt coffee.

"Would you like a cup?" she offered once she'd refilled her cup once again.

"No thanks. I've got to finish this up before we hit the Cerberus base on Noveria." Alenko motioned to the datapad in his hand.

"Noveria?' Fia struggled to keep her internal turmoil from showing on her face.

"Admiral Hackett wants us to hack into and disable the fighter base's defense systems." Alenko stood and headed out of the mess.

Fia sank into a nearby chair once Kaidan was out of sight. She gulped the coffee ignoring the way it burned all the way down. Noveria. _Fucking Cerberus._ She needed to face this head on, maybe that would make the damn nightmares go away. She was going on thirty-six or more hours without sleep at this point, something needed to give. She headed up to the CIC to find Shepard.

"Hey Shep," she said, stepping out of the elevator and forcing a smile on her face. She shoved her hands into her pockets to hide the tremors. "Alenko mentioned a fighter base on Noveria."

Shepard looked up from his private terminal. "Yes, we're leaving in an hour. Why?"

"I want to go. You need a hacker, and you know I'm the best." She leaned casually against the nearby railing. "Please? I need to stretch my mission muscles."

Shepard pondered for a moment before finally nodding. "Sure, why not. Suit up. I'll tell Alenko to stand down. You can join Vega and me."

"Thanks." Fia darted back into the elevator before he got a chance to really look at her. Exhaustion was starting to show in the lines of her face and dark circles under her eyes.

An hour later, Fia was suited up in her dark blue with crimson highlights N7 armor. She'd decided to go with her Archon visor because it hid her eyes almost completely. Vega tossed her an N7 Eagle to go with the Shuriken that she was already packing. She followed him into the shuttle and Shepard joined them. The ride down to the planet was short. Too short.

The icy cold air hit her like a brick wall when the shuttle door opened. She stumbled a little when she jumped down. Shepard shot a concerned look her way, but she waved it off. The Cerberus troopers decided to show up at that point, and the Commander was too distracted to notice anything out of the ordinary.

Fia kept just behind Vega and Shepard, out of sight and the line of fire. She took the occasional shot, but this was definitely not her best effort. Her N7 instructor would have crucified her for it. Once the area was cleared, she focused on hacking the control panel. It took longer that it should, but she got it done.

Vega and Shepard were already heading back to the landing pad, so she rushed around a corner to join them and straight into a trooper. _Fucking black and gold armor._ Fia froze. Her hands shook and her mind went completely blank. She watched in what seemed like slow motion while the Cerberus fucker raised his sword. She couldn't even close her eyes.

Then his head exploded.

Fia stared down at the headless body, oblivious to the two voices screaming at her over the comm. She ignored them. More than ignored, she didn't even hear them. Ducking back into the building, she found a dark corner to hide in. She slid down to the floor and buried her head in her hands.

"I can't do this. I can't do this." She muttered over and over to herself.

"Fia!" Shepard raced in trying to find her.

"I can't do this."

He spun around and followed her whispers. He knelt beside her. "What the _hell_ is going on?"

She couldn't lift her head. It just wouldn't move. So she held her hands straight out to demonstrate how uncontrollably they were shaking, it wasn't the first time that he would have seen her like this. Akuze had affected her in almost the same manner. "I can't do this, Shep. I can't. I can't. It needs to stop."

"Shit." Shepard spun around to fire at an incoming phantom. "Vega! Get your ass in here."

Fia felt like she was having an out-of-body experience. Shepard lifted her up with one arm and kept his gun focused in front of him. Vega took up the rear to guard against incoming Cerberus and they slowly fought their way to the waiting shuttle. Once onboard, Shepard set her down on a seat.

"What the fuck is going on?" He ripped off his helmet and tossed it across the shuttle.

Vega placed a hand on his shoulder. "I don't think that's helping, Loco."

Shepard knelt in front of Fia. He reached up to gently remove her visor. "What happened?"

"I can't do this." She looked from Shepard to Vega then back to the Commander. Her whole body was still trembling violently.

"Shit." Shepard set her helmet aside. He reached up to cup her face with his hands. "What can't you do?"

"Sleep." It took her four tries to get the words out. She leaned into the warmth of his touch. "It's Akuze all over again."

Shepard frowned at her in concern. "When was the last time you slept at all?"

"Three days? Four? How the fuck should I know? It's all started to blend in together at this point." Fia pulled away from him. "The last time that I remember getting a good night's sleep was in your quarters."

"God damn." Vega sat down in the seat next to her. "Sounds like PTSD, Loco."

"I know." Shepard nodded at the Lieutenant before turning back to Fia. "Why didn't you tell me that it started again?"

Fia just shook her head. She didn't want to talk anymore. She hid her face in her arms. She didn't see the concerned looks on the two men's faces. She kept her head down until they reached the _Normandy._ Once onboard, she rushed up to her makeshift quarters. She sealed the door, a pointless endeavor since she knew EDI could easily open it. She once again hid in the darkest corner.

* * *

Shepard watched Fia step into the elevator. He held Vega back when he started to go after her. Cortez followed them out of the shuttle.

"She needs to talk about what happened." Cortez began going over his post-flight checklist. "It was the only thing that helped me after Ferris Fields."

"EDI, where is she?" Shepard exchanged a glance with Vega.

"Lieutenant Hackett is currently in Life Support. She has sealed the door. Would you like me to override it, Commander?" EDI informed him.

"Not yet. Please send a message to Admiral Hackett. Tell him that I need him back on the _Normandy. _Tell him…" Shepard thought for a second then continued on. "Send him the log of what happened on the mission."

"Yes, Commander."

"Now what?" Vega followed Shepard towards the elevator.

"Now we wait for her father to show up." Shepard dropped his gear off in the Armory.

"That's it?" Vega looked at him incredulously. "We should at least talk to her."

"I agree with Mr. Vega." Cortez popped out from under the Kodiak.

"We're going to wait for Hackett." Shepard headed into the elevator.

* * *

"What the hell happened, Commander?" Hackett strode onto the _Normandy_ and straight towards Shepard.

"She froze. The doc thinks it's PTSD, we can medicate her if necessary. But I think we should try to talk to her. She hasn't slept in days." Shepard motioned for him to step into the elevator.

Hackett was silent the rest of the way to Ofelia's room. He was worried about his daughter. EDI had found security feeds from Noveria of what had happened. Ofelia had never shown fear, even as a child, she seemed to think showing any sign of weakness was bad. She'd dive head long into whatever trouble that she or Shepard could find. The terror he glimpsed on her face in the vid was almost too much for him to handle.

Hackett stepped inside the room alone after EDI unlocked it. The room was dark and it took a moment for his eyes to adjust. He followed the dim lighting until he found Fia. She was sitting on the floor with her knees up against her chest. Her head was resting on her knees.

"Ofelia?" He crouched down beside her. No answer. He touched a hand to hers and it was freezing cold. "I need you to talk to me."

She finally looked up at him. "Hey."

He was tired of trying to get a good look at her face in the shadows. He carefully lifted her up off the floor and carried her out into the hallway. Shepard was anxiously pacing outside. The Commander took one look at them and rushed forward to take Fia into his arms.

"Let's get her up to my cabin." Shepard led the way back to the elevator.

Hackett watched his daughter while his anxiety levels rose. Silence was never something that he associated with his daughter. He followed Shepard into his cabin. The Commander sat on the couch and gently held Fia on his lap. She resisted at first then finally relaxed into his arms.

Hackett sat on the edge of the coffee table so that he was within easy reach. In the better light, he could see the sheer exhaustion etched on his daughter's face. It was the constant tremors in her hands that most concerned him. Shepard exchanged a worried glance with him over her head.

"I haven't been able to sleep." Fia's voice sounded incredibly hoarse. "No. That's not true. I can sleep but I don't want to because of the nightmares. I need it all out of my head. It's like an endless vid of all the worst shit that's happened to me. It's worse though, more sick, more twisted."

"Do you remember what we did the last time this happened?" Shepard's question took Hackett by surprise.

"Akuze." Fia nodded her head towards her dad. "I don't think he'll approve."

"He'll just have to get over it. You need sleep." Shepard set Fia on the couch and headed over to fix a drink for her. He stopped to grab a pillow and then went back to the couch. He handed her the drink, then sat down with the pillow in his lap. She rested her head on it and within minutes was out cold.

"What the hell is in that?" Hackett grabbed the drink from her hand before it fell.

"Scotch."

"And?"

"A couple sleeping pills, she needs to get some sleep. It won't fix everything, but it will definitely help." Shepard draped a blanket across her.

"Tell me about Akuze." Hackett moved over from the coffee table to the other side of the couch.

"Maybe you should have fucking asked her after it happened." Shepard kept his voice low to keep from waking Fia up. But the look that he sent the Admiral's way spoke volumes.

"Commander, Shepard." Hackett held up his hands in surrender. "Please, just tell me."


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: **

**Another more dramatic chapter, the next one should be a little more fun.**

**Shout out to my Beta:** PestoMonkey who is amazing and always gives me good ideas.

**Bioware owns All…except for Ofelia Hackett, that's my character. Lol**

**Thanks for the follows and reviews.**

**Read. Enjoy. Review. I appreciate reviews, they keep me inspired to write more. =) **

"You know, I met one of her squad mates from Akuze before the first _Normandy_ was destroyed. He was killing off the scientists responsible for the whole damn mess." Shepard reached down to gently stroke Fia's hair.

"I saw the report." Hackett shifted slightly in his seat. "Just tell me about my daughter."

Shepard stared down at the sleeping woman whose head rested on a pillow in his lap. He sighed deeply before he started to speak again. "This is wonderfully calm and quiet."

"Quiet?" Hackett glanced at him confused.

Shepard gestured at Fia. "The aftermath of Akuze was loud and violent. I was on shore leave at the time. I'd let her crash at my apartment on Elysium once she was medically cleared. The screams were what I noticed first. They were impossible to ignore."

"Screams?" Hackett prompted when the Commander fell silent.

"She suffered from night terrors. It was difficult to watch. She was reliving every moment over and over again. I'd just hold her until the shaking and screaming stopped." Shepard closed his eyes for a moment then continued. "Those were long, long days. Sometimes, it was just tears and sometimes, it was violent."

"You should have called a doctor."

Shepard opened his eyes to glare at the Admiral. "A doctor? And let them Cat-6 her? Hell fucking no. She deserved better than that from me and from the Alliance and certainly from you. She told me that she thought you hoped that would happen."

"Of course not," Hackett responded quickly. Too quickly.

"You bastard."

"It would have been better than having her go on another mission like Akuze." Hackett didn't appear to be bothered by Shepard's outburst.

"She watched them all die." Shepard decided it was best to move the conversation on. "Each member of her squad was dragged away screaming. She barely made it out alive herself."

"I _have_ read the report, Commander." Hackett's words were cold but Shepard caught the pained look in his eyes.

"The report doesn't adequately describe how she dragged herself out by hand. It certainly can't express the weeks of self-medicating that she tried." Shepard refused to sugar coat anything for the Admiral. "I found her in the bathtub one morning. She was trying to drown herself. No, that's not fair to Fia. She was trying to stop the echoes of sounds in her mind and thought submerging herself in water would help. It didn't. It did almost kill her."

"My god." Hackett stood and paced the room, pausing with his back to the Commander and the conversation.

"I took an extended leave to watch over her. She talked until she lost her voice. She told me what happened over and over until I knew it by heart. She talked until she didn't need to anymore. The nightmares finally stopped. The ghosts stopped haunting her. She was in bad shape though. She'd lost thirty pounds. It took a while for her appetite to come back. She said all the food tasted like thresher maw acid."

"Enough, Shepard, enough. I get the idea." Hackett was still facing the aquarium and Shepard could see the tension in his shoulders. "Why didn't she tell me?"

"Are you fucking kidding me?" Shepard barked out an angry laugh. "When have you ever been available for her?"

Hackett spun around at the accusation. "I love my daughter more than my career, Commander."

"Do you really?" Shepard raised an eyebrow. "I've seen no proof in all the years that I've known her."

"You have no right to question me." Hackett spoke through clenched teeth.

"The fuck I don't. I wiped away the tears. I listened to all of the horrors. I'll question you all I fucking want. If you have a problem with that, you can get the fuck off my ship." Shepard's control over his temper snapped. "She deserved more from you, Admiral."

"You are very loud." Fia's muffled voice broke the silence that followed his outburst.

"Go back to sleep." Shepard reached down to gently brush his fingers through her hair. It always helped her relax. "We're just having a conversation."

"Sounds more like an argument." Fia shifted until she was lying on her back looking up at Shepard. She sounded incredibly drowsy. "It's not his fault."

"What are you talking about?" Shepard glanced up to find Hackett watching intently.

She glanced over at her father. "You're expecting Hackett to act like your dad would have. He doesn't know how to be that kind of father. He's more hands off. I'm pretty sure that he loves me. He's just not the type to be there to chase the nightmares away."

Before either of the men could respond, she started snoring quietly again. He looked over at Hackett who had paled considerably. The Admiral had clearly not expected to have his daughter be quite so honest about his parenting skills. He could have mentioned that she was a little drunk and drugged, but Shepard didn't feel like letting him off the hook that easily.

"She's never expected much from you." Shepard shifted Fia a little on his lap.

Hackett's sharp intake of breathe cut Shepard off. "I believe that is enough from you for one evening, Commander. When she's awake, tell her to contact me via the Comm."

Shepard turned his attention back to the sleeping Fia. He didn't bother to say goodbye or watch the Admiral leave. There were so many other truths that he could have laid on Hackett's shoulders. He didn't doubt Hackett's love for his daughter, just the way that he demonstrated it. It wasn't his problem to fix, though, and his focus was better placed on helping the woman in his arms heal.

The next few days were long ones. It was like Akuze all over again. Sleep, food and talking about what she had endured in Cerberus' hands eventually helped enough that things were calm again. That was until Fia discovered the orders Hackett had given Shepard.

"You're grounding me." Fia stormed into the CIC where Shepard was plotting a course on the galaxy map. They'd been docked at the Citadel for a few days and he was ready to move on.

"I'm the _Commander_ of this ship." Shepard grabbed her elbow and led her away from Traynor's curious gaze. "Could you at least pretend you respect that?"

Fia glared down at the hand on her arm then back up at Shepard. "He did this."

"I have no idea what you're talking about." Shepard stared right back at her but she caught the slight twitch in his right cheek that always indicated a lie.

"So I'm supposed to assist in the fucking armory while everyone else goes to war? I'm a hacker, Shepard, a goddamn brilliant engineer. I can clean weapons in my sleep. I should be doing something useful." Fia poked Shepard in the chest with her finger "What did _he_ say?"

Shepard just stared her down, it worked on everyone else on the ship. He'd just glared at them until they were silent. Though he wasn't sure why he tried it with Fia, it'd never worked on her before. Fia's control over her temper snapped. She reached up and grabbed Shepard by the ear. She dragged him towards the security door that led to the War Room. The two privates looked up only to have Shepard wave their concern off.

"Are we going far?" He stumbled along behind her with her fingers still clamped tightly around his ear.

She ignored him. It didn't take long to reach the Comm Room. She finally let go of his ear and told him to _stay_. He tried rather unsuccessfully not to laugh while she connected with Hackett over the QEC. He'd told Hackett it was a bad idea to try and force her to remain on the ship. Once the PTSD was under control, Fia wouldn't be satisfied with cleaning weapons.

"Ofelia, Commander." Hackett greeted when his holo-image finally appeared.

"Did you order Shepard to keep me on the ship?" Fia got straight to the point.

"Not exactly."

"Then what _exactly_ did you order him to do?" Fia clenched her fists tightly at her side.

"I am the goddamn commander of the entire Alliance Navy; I do not have to explain myself to you." Hackett's response took Fia and Shepard by surprise, or at least the ferocity of it did.

"Feeling guilty are we?" Fia gave him a knowing look.

"Why can't you just accept it?" Hackett sighed in frustration.

"Because I'm your daughter."

"And that is why I'm not going to change my mind." Hackett looked away for a moment. "Hackett out."

Fia stared at the now blank vid-screen for a moment. Shepard placed a hand on her shoulder but she shoved it off.

"This is not over." She was practically growling in annoyance.

"I…"

"Don't even bother." She stepped further away from him.

"Please don't do something that _I_ will regret." Shepard moved towards her.

Fia placed her hand on his chest to stop him. Then, before he could stop her, she hit him with an electric pulse. It was strong enough to knock him out but not do permanent damage. She knew that she wouldn't have long. Her cloaking ability would buy her enough time to grab her gear and sneak out the airlock onto the Citadel.

By the time that Shepard was back on his feet and EDI had tracked her movements, Fia had already hopped on a shuttle. Bailey checked the flight records and informed Shepard that Fia was headed to where Hackett was currently stationed. Shepard laughed all the way back to the _Normandy. _ Joker set a course to follow, but slowly. Hackett deserved the earful that he was about to get from his daughter.

* * *

Hackett stepped into his office only to stop just inside the doorway. He found his desk chair already occupied. Ofelia was leaning back with her feet propped up on his desk. He set the datapad in his hand down then sat on the edge of the desk.

"I wasn't finished with our conversation." She grinned when he lifted her feet of his desk. "You can't keep me in an armory cleaning weapons because you feel guilty about focusing on your career."

"I know."

"Could you say that again?" She was momentarily stunned.

"There's no manual on how to be a good father and still pursue a career." Hackett stared down at his hands. "For what it's worth, I'm sorry that I wasn't there after Akuze."

"Hey." Fia reached out to grab his hand. "I know you love me and that you did your best."

He smiled at her. "I have a compromise."

"Hacketts don't do that." She remarked suspiciously.

"True, but let's make an exception just this once. We are in desperate need of someone that can coordinate Alliance Spec Ops missions with C-Sec and the Spectres. It's counter-productive to have so many operations running at the same time. It will require a lot of work, and you'd be based on the Citadel." Hackett grabbed the datapad from his desk and handed it to her. "It's as far as I'm willing to bend."

Fia skimmed through the information then looked back up at her dad. "It's a good position."

"Please consider it." Hackett took the datapad from her hand and set it on the desk. He took both her hands in his own. "Give me this one thing."

She turned her head away from his gaze to look at the medals on his shelf while she thought about it.

"Ofelia?"

"Yes?" She turned her attention back to him.

"You can use my apartment in Tiberius Towers." Hackett offered up his trump card.

"Do you really think bribing me will work?"

"Yes." He stood up and pulled her into a hug. "I think it will work because you know that I love you."

Fia sighed then hugged him back. "Ok, fine. But I have one condition."

He raised an eyebrow. "Of course you do."

"You tell Shepard. I've got to get back to the Citadel before he gets here." She kissed him on the cheek then started for the door."

"Stop right there."

She stopped mid-step and looked back at him. "What?"

"Did you do something to the Commander?" He gave her a knowing look.

"No, she didn't." Shepard stepped into the room before she could respond. He walked over and draped an arm around her shoulder.

"Sorry." She whispered under her breath ignoring the suspicion in her father's eyes. "C'mon Shep, I'll tell you all about my new assignment on the way back to the Citadel."

"Oh, Commander, that reminds me." Hackett followed them out of the room. "The _Normandy_ is due for repairs. Have Joker head to the dry dock at the Citadel and take some shore leave."

Shepard saluted the Admiral, and then dragged Fia back towards the ship. "I haven't had shore leave in ages. This should be fun."

"Fun?" Fia elbowed him in the side. "Shore leave never ends well."


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: **

**Major Spoilers for the Citadel DLC. It's very AU-ish though.**

**Shout out to my Beta:** PestoMonkey who is amazing and always gives me good ideas.

**Bioware owns All…except for Ofelia Hackett, that's my character. Lol**

**Thanks for the follows and reviews.**

**Read. Enjoy. Review. I appreciate reviews, they keep me inspired to write more. =) **

Commander Bailey had asked for her assistance in clearing out some of the leftover presents from the Cerberus coup. Fia was crouched down working on un-fucking the fucked up terminal in front of her when massive crash caught her attention. She glanced behind her at the large glass windows that covered the various restaurants and business. Shards of glass seemed to be raining down from somewhere higher up.

There were no alerts over the comm but she moved further out onto one of the ledges to see what the _fuck_ was going on. It took a moment for it to register that someone was dangling from one of the busted panels. She tilted her head a little then rushed back under cover to avoid the falling debris.

A loud thud sent her rushing back out. _Sheapard? _Unless she was losing her mind, Fia was watching Shepard limp from one ledge to another. He slid down one ladder followed by a second until he was on the same floor with her. He was arguing with someone over his comm and didn't immediately see her until she was blocking his path while applying medi-gel to his injuries.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Shepard waved off the medi-gel.

"I'm working. What the hell are _you_ doing here?" She ignored him and kept applying the medi-gel.

"There are some mercs that I'm dealing with." He was trying to avoid giving her details.

Fia pulled out her pistol and started to follow him when he stormed away. "Let's go."

He turned back around and stopped her mid step. "No way. I've got this under control."

"Falling through a fish tank and limping around with one pistol doesn't really make me think that you have anything under control." She followed her arms across her chest in annoyance.

"I said no." Shepard started to leave only to stop when he realized that she was keeping in step with him. "That's a goddamn order, Lieutenant."

Fia's eyes narrowed and she ground her teeth in annoyance. "You promised never to do that to me."

There was a flash of guilt in his eyes, but it was gone before she was certain it had been there. "If you want to help, see if you can figure out who the hell is hacking my personal accounts."

She watched him race away. _Fucker. _After Akuze, they'd had a long talk about their military futures. They'd promised each other never to use an order as an excuse to win an argument. _Pendejo._ She had definitely been hanging out with Vega too much. She was drinking too much tequila and swearing in Spanish.

She tapped her fingers against the terminal in front of her for a few minutes thinking. Hacking into the comm system was a piece of cake, it struck her as odd though that she wasn't the only one eavesdropping on Shepard's conversation with whoever the hell Brooks was. The woman sounded like a fucking hamster on red sand. Fia tuned out the conversation and focused on trying to find anything that might lead back to the other hacker. Once she heard Shepard had managed to meet up with at least one of his squad, she breathed a short sigh of relief and headed back to her apartment. It would be easier to sift through information from there.

Six hours later she was still trying to break into the hacker's system, she hadn't heard from Shepard, but from C-sec reports, he was at the Casino nearby. She thought about stopping over to visit but she got a call from Bailey asking her to check out a problem over at the archives. She left her terminal to automatically continue working on the hacker and headed out to hop a ride with one of the C-sec officers. She was wandering through the maze of hallways in the archives twenty minutes later when she ran into Shepard.

"Shepard?"

He turned and raised a gun at her.

"Uhm, Shep? What the hell? I know I pissed you off earlier but shit, that seems a little extreme." She raised her hands up with a confused look on her face.

"Ofelia." He lowered the gun slightly but not entirely.

"Did Bailey send you a message as well?" Fia needed him to say something other than her name.

"No. Why are you in the archives?" He took a step towards her.

Shepard had an expression that she'd never seen on his face. It was…soulless. She found herself staring mesmerized then it dawned on her, the fresh medi-gel scar on his forehead was gone. He'd gotten it falling through the fish tank. Her eyes narrowed, something was very, very wrong. Shepard healed fast but even he couldn't make a scar disappear that quickly. And he never called her Ofelia, not since they were kids.

"What are _you_ doing here?" She started to stall for time. This was not Shepard…or not her Shepard. _Fuck. _She started to inch backwards away from the imposter.

"Looking for you." The not-Shepard smiled at her, but even the smile was wrong. The mercs milling around behind him were also wrong.

_Shit._

"You won't fool anyone that knows him." She decided not to bother with the pretense. "My dad wouldn't buy your act for a second."

"Your father?"

"Admiral Hackett. If you're trying to assume Shepard's identity, you're going to have to talk to him on a daily basis." Fia kept inching further towards the door at her back.

"I wouldn't worry about that. He won't hear anything from you."

The gun was back up and pointing directly at her.

"You won't get away with shooting me," she said.

"No one will ever know what happened to you. Hackett will just think you were collateral damage. He won't bother to look for you." He was already gloating.

The gun was getting closer to her.

"Hackett never makes the same mistake twice." Fia felt her back hit the door.

"What are you talking about?" His finger twitched on the trigger and she knew it was now or never.

"Hold that thought." She started for the door but didn't get far. The bullet caught her in the shoulder. _Fuck that hurt._

This was definitely not Shepard. If it was, she was going to beat the shit out of him. She pulled herself through the doorway before they could get to her and locked it behind her. The seal wouldn't hold long. She got to her feet and raced towards the nearby ventilation system. She'd looked at the blueprints of the building earlier. It was a tight fit which made her shoulder hurt worse. She made her way slowly, using her omni-tool to make sure that no one was following. She couldn't risk trying to contact the real Shepard over the comms. She was easing over a grate that was underneath her when it broke and she fell through to the floor below.

"Ow." She'd landed on her hurt shoulder. She was fairly certain that she was going to bleed out at some point. "Fucking bastard."

"What the hell?"

She looked up to find Shepard staring down at her. She would've swung at him but her arm wasn't working anymore. "You! You fucking shot me. I'm going to kick your ass when my arm starts working again."

"What are you talking about?" He squatted down and eased her onto her side to get a good look at her shoulder.

"Someone that could be your twin shot me." Fia looked at him suspiciously. "Prove that you're my Shepard."

"I'm not proving…" Shepard trailed off when she raised a pistol with her good hand. He thought for a moment then finally responded. "You have a scar on your back. It covers almost the length of your entire spine. You fell backwards through a very large window and it almost cut you in half."

"Anyone can look that up on the extranet." Fia wasn't convinced even though the Shepard in front of her had different armor on.

"But what no one else knows is that you didn't fall. I was trying out my biotics and you were my test subject." Shepard reached out to take the pistol from her hand. "You never told anyone that it was my fault."

Fia let herself relax. "You've got an evil twin…or something. I'm telling you."

"I think the bullet messed with your head." Shepard argued.

"Fine, don't believe me. Whatever. You'll find your not-doppelganger a couple rooms over." Fia struggled to get to her feet. "I'm heading to Huerta Memorial."

"Fia." Shepard reached out to stop her from walking away. "You can't just walk to the hospital."

"I'm not going to walk. I'm going to get a skycab." She tried to pull her arm out of his grasp. "Shepard, focus, you need to stop this asshole. I can get to the hospital. I'll be fine."

Shepard appeared torn, but finally he motioned for Vega to step over. "Take care of her, Lieutenant."

Vega started to argue but changed his mind. He stepped over to Fia and lifted her easily into his arms. "No worries, Loco, I got this covered. Go get that pendejo."

The ride to Huerta was short and quiet. The medi-gel helped a bit, but she knew she'd lost a lot of blood clambering through the fucking vents. The docs didn't take long to patch her up though. They tried to make her rest at the hospital. But having Hackett for a last name was sometimes useful; she managed to convince them to let her go home.

"You can head over meet with Shepard." She broke the silence in the cab as they headed back to the strip.

"Loco scares me more than you do." Vega just shook his head.

"Fine. Tequila?" She grinned.

"Should you drink with all that medi-gel and pain meds?" Vega helped her out of the cab and insisted on carrying her up to her apartment.

"I really do not give a fuck."

"Tequila it is."


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: **

**Major Spoilers for the Citadel DLC. It's very AU-ish though.**

**Shout out to my Beta:** PestoMonkey who is amazing and always gives me good ideas.

**Bioware owns All…except for Ofelia Hackett, that's my character. Lol**

**Thanks for the follows and reviews.**

**Read. Enjoy. Review. I appreciate reviews, they keep me inspired to write more. =) **

It had been a very, very long day. His clone was dead. Brooks was dead. The _Normandy_ was safe. Shepard was filing the report with Hackett when he finally remembered Fia's injury. He stopped at his apartment to talk briefly with Wrex. He tried reaching Fia at the hospital but she'd checked herself out. He couldn't reach either Fia or Vega via the comm. He was started to feel really concerned.

He tried to convince himself that he was being paranoid, but given the day's events, it wasn't working. Fia's apartment was a couple floors above his. He contacted Hackett to get the keycode. The Admiral made him promise to follow back up once he knew what was going on. Shepard neglected to mention that she had been shot. Hackett was going to kill him. But that was a problem for another day; first, he needed to find her. The lower floor of her apartment was empty, so he headed upstairs to check those rooms.

Shepard stepped into the bedroom and went from concerned to pissed the fuck off in less than a second. Vega and Fia were both passed out on the bed. Vega wasn't naked, but he sure as hell wasn't dressed either. He was just wearing a pair of Alliance issue boxers. Fia...well...she was buried under a blanket so it was impossible to tell.

"Lieutenant Vega!"

Vega shot up from the bed taking the blanket with him. Shepard looked over to find that Fia was in a bra and panties plus the bandage around her shoulder. Fia glanced up at him with an amused look on her face. James looked like he was contemplating the various ways that he could die. Shepard was doing the same damn thing.

"The last time that I had this dream, you were both naked. Shepard didn't look so damn pissed off. And I had a hell of a lot of fun." Fia sighed. "I can already tell this isn't going to be like that at all. Why don't you hit the shower, James? I need a moment with Shep."

Shepard watched while Vega escaped from the room. He reached down to grab the blanket from the floor and tossed it to Fia. "Could you please cover up?"

"Why?" She glared up at him. "See something that you don't like?"

Shepard pinched the bridge of his nose between his fingers for a moment. "Please? I can't have this conversation with you in your underwear."

Fia rolled her eyes but draped the blanket around her like a shawl. It took a little effort with the still healing shoulder.

"Satisfied?"

"I get that you were upset that I ignored your concerns earlier. And I know that I was out of line. But did you really need to fuck the Lieutenant?" Shepard regretted the words almost immediately.

Fia shot out of bed and slammed her fist straight into his face. She followed him down to the ground and ended up straddling his waist. It took a moment for it to dawn on both of them that she was still half naked. Shepard's body responded almost immediately and it was very evident to both of them.

"Shepard, I get that you feel the need to soothe your male ego after finding me in bed with Vega. But that doesn't mean that I'm going to lie on my back, spread my legs and say 'you know the way'." Fia rolled her eyes down at him before falling over on her side with a loud groan. "Shit. I forgot about my shoulder."

Shepard pulled himself up and moved over to check on her wounds. They had not re-opened but he wasn't going to take any chances. He lifted her up and carefully set her back down on the bed. He pulled the blanket back up over her and sat on the bed beside her.

"Vega and I didn't have sex," Fia admitted. "I think."

"I had a clone." Shepard spoke at the same time. "What the hell do you mean, you think?"

"A clone?" Fia frowned at him. "A clone?"

"Cerberus."

"Fuckers." Fia eased back against the pillows. "I told you."

"Yes, I know. And I'm sorry for not listening and for accusing you of sleeping with Vega." Shepard glanced over at Vega who was hovering around the door. "Not now Lieutenant."

"Right…I'll just…you know what, I'm going to head back to the ship to change into some clean clothes." Vega made a very quick retreat at the anger that still lingered in the Commander's eyes.

"That's not very nice." Fia drew Shepard's attention back to her.

"I don't care."

"You can't chase away all the cute boys. I deserve to have someone in my life that is more than a friend." Fia was momentarily distracted by a flashing light at her private terminal. "Did you tell him?"

"Not about the gun shot," Shepard shook his head. "You might want to get dressed before you contact him."

"He can wait," she remarked. She motioned for him to move closer. "We need to have a little chat about that jealous bullshit that you just pulled."

Shepard sighed but moved up closer to her on the bed. "It's been a long day."

"That is no excuse. Am I supposed to be celibate for the rest of my life? Of course, the reapers might kill me. Or you might have another clone, so it might not be a super long time to go without sex." She grinned at him.

"Vega's not the guy for you." Shepard knew he was skirting around the subject. But the last time that he had tried to talk to her about a relationship, she'd ended up joining the Alliance and going to Akuze to avoid the subject.

"Oh really?" She raised an eyebrow at him. "Do you have a better suggestion? Maybe Alenko?"

Shepard closed his eyes and prayed for patience. "You'd kill Kaiden within a week."

There was only silence in response. Shepard opened his eyes and looked over only to find that she had fallen asleep. Shepard chuckled softly to himself before moving onto his side. He was about to ease her gently into his arms when he realized that he was still in his damn armor.

There was nothing comfortable about sleeping in armor. He stripped down to his boxers before getting back into bed. It took him a while to drift off to sleep, so he just lay there listening to her sleep for a while.

* * *

"Commander Shepard!"

Fia opened her eyes and found her father at the foot of the bed. She glanced over at Shepard who had apparently gotten undressed at some point.

"Oh this is fucking ironic." She shook Shepard's shoulder to wake him up.

"Not so loud," he grumbled.

"COMMANDER!" Hackett's voice was so loud that Fia covered her ears.

"Fuck." Shepard didn't bother opening his eyes. "Just kill me now and get it over with."

"Can we at least have sex first? I mean really, this is the second time that I've woken up in bed with a half-naked man that I haven't slept with. I'm starting to develop a complex." Fia yawned and tried to remember not to stretch. Her shoulder was still sore.

"I'm still in the room." Hackett was not in a good mood.

"And that would be why we aren't completely naked." Fia rubbed her head with her good hand. "I think the pain meds kicked in at some point."

"Pain meds?" Hackett held his hand up for silence. "I have just a few questions. First, why is there medical tape wrapped around my daughter's shoulder? Second, why are you on pain meds again? And third, why the hell are you two in bed together?"

"Shepard shot me." Fia grinned at him.

"What?" Her dad looked like he was about to pop a blood vessel.

"Well, his clone shot me," she clarified.

"You are not helping." Shepard glared at her.

"I'm just telling the truth." She pulled herself up into a seated position which dragged the blanket off Shepard. She glanced down. "Hey, they are blue."

"Not. Helping."

"I'm going to surrender to the madness. Meet me on the _Normandy_. We've got to discuss the assault on the Cerberus base." Hackett was clearly directing the order to Shepard. Fia tossed a pillow at her father. He turned his attention back to her. "You are staying on the Citadel. It should be the safest place once we start the final assault."

"I could be more help on the _Normandy." _ She looked to Shepard for support but he just shook his head. _Coward._ "I'm not going to be a damn bit of use on the Citadel."

"I'm sorry, Ofelia, but it's an order. You stay on the Citadel." Hackett folded his arms across his chest.

She started to argue, but given her gun-shot wound. It wasn't an argument that she could win. "Stay safe, Dad."

He just nodded then with a last glare at Shepard, left the room.

"If that man ever voluntarily shows emotion, I think I might have a fucking heart attack." Fia rolled her eyes. She shifted around on the bed so that she was facing Shepard. "This is the final push isn't it?"

He nodded in response before getting out of bed. She watched him while he got back into his armor. There were too many things to say, and never enough time to say them. Shepard was about as bad as her father was when it came to expressing himself. She half expected him to bolt out the door without even saying goodbye. Instead, he leaned back down on the bed to place a gentle kiss on her lips. He was halfway to the door when she finally found her voice.

"You better both come back to me, Shepard." She smiled when he saluted in response and disappeared out the door.

_She was never going to get laid. Ever._

* * *

Several hours later, Shepard was racing back to the CIC on the _Normandy. _Hackett had just come on board. They were working with Anderson to organize the final push towards Earth. The assault on Cerberus had been a success though the Illusive Man had proven to be illusive.

"Commander, good work against Cerberus," Hackett remarked when Shepard stopped in front of him.

"The reapers are in control of the Citadel. They've moved it to the SOL system." Shepard pulled Hackett aside, out of the way of the crew that was rushing around to prepare for the upcoming battle.

"I know." Hackett gave him a confused glance.

"The Citadel is no longer _safe._" Shepard just waited for the Admiral to understand.

Hackett turned towards Traynor who was working at her terminal. She looked up at him expectantly but Shepard drew the Admiral's attention back to him.

"EDI already tried to reach her. No comms are making it through to the Citadel." Shepard clenched his jaw tightly to keep his emotions under control.

"Damn this war." Hackett raised a hand to cover his eyes for a long moment. He finally looked back up at Shepard. "I should have listened to her. She wanted to be on the _Normandy_. I thought the Citadel would be a safer place. And she couldn't ignore a direct order."

"It's not your…" Shepard trailed off at the look on the Admiral's face. "We will defeat the reapers."

Hackett nodded sharply once, and then headed over to the Galaxy Map to make his final speech. The war had just gotten very personal for both men.


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: **

**This chapter is incredibly AU-ish. I'm taking a lot of liberties with the end of ME3.**

**This is definitely the last chapter of this story. I'm contemplating writing a follow up series that covers what comes next. **

Shout out to PestoMonkey for all your help with this fic!

**Bioware owns All…except for Ofelia Hackett, that's my character. Lol**

**Thanks for the follows, favorites and reviews.**

**Read. Enjoy. Review. I appreciate reviews, they keep me inspired to write more. =) **

"Lieutenant Hackett!"

Fia stepped out of the elevator only to have Commander Bailey grab her and shove her into a waiting skycar. "What the hell?"

"The Citadel's been moved to the SOL system." Bailey hopped into the driver's seat of the C-sec car. "The Reapers have control."

"Well, shit." Fia tried to reach her dad or Shepard over her comm. _Nothing._

"Comms have been down since they took over." Bailey pulled the vehicle to the landing outside her apartment building. "Get inside, stay inside. I have no idea when the reaper forces will be on the Citadel."

"Bailey?" She started to argue but decided against it. She had a better idea. If she could get through the comm block, maybe she could find out what was going on outside the Citadel.

Several hours later, her efforts at trying to get access to something started to pay off. She was able to hack into one line out of the Citadel that in turn patched her into the Alliance. She heard bits and pieces of Shepard's conversation with her father before the comm link fried again. They had mentioned the Catalyst.

A strange rumbling sound caught her attention before she could start hacking again. It seemed to be moving closer. _Oh shit._ She launched herself across the room to find cover before whatever it was hit.

Fia crouched under her dad's desk until the explosions finally started to die down. The dust cleared enough that she realized part of the wall had collapsed. _Shit. _It took a bit of effort, but she managed to squeeze between a gap in the wall and the desk.

_Damn_.

Her dad was going to be pissed when he realized that she could hack into the Alliance comms. He'd be even more pissed when he realized his apartment was fucking destroyed. He had bigger issues at the moment if the reaper invasion hadn't been stopped by the shockwave that she assumed had come from the Crucible. There were a lot of dead people but only two mattered to her at the moment. Hackett was out of reach. From the brief conversation she heard between the two men, Shep was on the Citadel. She just had to find him. She used her omni-tool to try to track where his last location had been.

It took her an hour to crawl through the wreckage of the Citadel. Survivors littered the hallways, tending to each other's wounds. She ran into Commander Bailey close to the Presidium. He was trying to contact Earth without success. He was focusing his energy on securing the station and trying to find a way to get the comm systems back up and running. He tried to talk Fia into staying put, but she just pushed past him. _Never argue with a Hackett on a mission._

There was only one thing on her mind. Shepard. She knew that he had found a chasm somewhere that led to a control room of sorts. She pulled up a set of blueprints that she'd _borrowed_ from the archives. _Bingo._ After another hour of searching, she found the tunnels from the map. They were filled with dead and decaying bodies. The stench almost brought her to her knees. She buried her nose in the crook of her elbow and pushed on towards the fresh air at the end of the tunnel.

Her arm fell away from her face once she was out of the tunnel. She carefully maneuvered over the bridge towards the control room. The smell of death still filled the air. The Illusive Man's body was the first one that she found. She kicked him with all her strength. _Bastard._ Admiral Anderson was the second body that she found. He'd been shot and bled out. She blinked back tears. He was a good man.

The tears fell when she noticed the third body in the room. _Goddamn it. _He was a soldier until the end. Shepard's hand was resting on a terminal. The conversation that she'd overheard earlier now made sense. The Crucible hadn't fired. Her dad had yelled for Shep to do something. It didn't take much to imagine him crawling over to activate the pulse with his last breath.

She dropped to her knees next to his body. _Shepard._ Her arms reached out and her hands gripped his body. She turned him over and pulled him against her while violent sobs shook her entire body. Her hand pressed against his chest, and slowly it dawned on her that she could feel a heartbeat.

"Don't you motherfucking die on me." She whispered while applying all the medi-gel that she had on her. It might give them enough time. _Maybe._ "You can't fucking do this to me again, goddamn it."

Her options were limited at the moment. She tried the comms, but they were still down. _Fuck._ She didn't want to leave Anderson alone which was silly, he was dead. She stood to say a prayer over the Admiral's body. Then with more strength than she thought she possessed, she hefted Shepard over her non-injured shoulder.

"You need to go on a diet." She muttered under her breath. She felt her shoulder go out, but gritted her teeth through the pain. They needed to get to the hospital. "I am so kicking your ass when you're awake."

The journey back down took a lot longer. She only fell twice which was a miracle. Bailey was still working at a fevered pace trying to get some sort of infrastructure back up and running. Comms were working again but limited.

It took her several tries to get her voice to work.

"Bailey. _Commander Bailey_." She was out of energy and about to pass out from the pain in her shoulder. "A little help?"

Bailey finally looked up. "My god, is that Shepard?"

She let Bailey take the Commander from her. They raced through the destroyed wards to Huerta which was remarkably undamaged. The C-sec Commander laid Shepard on a bed and grabbed the nearest doctor. Fia dropped into a nearby chair and refused to take her eyes off Shepard while the doctors worked to stabilize his condition.

Bailey patted her shoulder to reassure her and when she cried out, she remembered that her shoulder was out of joint. While one of the nurses gave her pain meds, a doctor popped it back into place. It hurt like a motherfucker and she practically bit through her lip to keep from screaming. Bailey distracted her by giving her a quick update. The Reapers were dead, all of them. Earth was safe. They hadn't been able to get through to the Alliance fleets yet. He left her in the care of the doctors and went back to work.

The pain meds did their job and she drifted off to sleep in the chair beside Shepard's hospital bed.

"Where the _hell_ is my daughter?"

Fia rudely awoke to someone yanking her out of the chair and into their arms. She opened her eyes to find herself staring at a blue dress shirt. She shifted her gaze up to find a familiar pair of blue eyes with tears in them. She started to wrap her arms around her father but then grunted in pain. Her shoulder might be back in place, but it was still sore as fucking hell. She reached up with her good hand to touch one of the tears.

"I don't think I've ever seen you cry." She grinned at him, and then leaned her head forward to rest against his chest.

_He was safe. _

_Shepard was safe._

"The _Normandy_?" She finally pulled herself back from her father.

"We haven't been able to reach them yet. Comms aren't completely up yet." He gave her a serious once-over. "Are you ok? They said you were injured."

"Shepard's a heavy bastard." Fia reminded herself not to shrug just in time. "I pulled my shoulder when I lifted him up. Oh, did Bailey find Anderson's body?"

"Yes, we recovered both the bodies." Hackett sounded equal parts angry and sad.

Fia turned towards the bed in the room only to find it empty. Her heart plummeted almost immediately as panic set in. "Oh god, he's…where the hell…is he dead?"

"Easy, easy." Hackett eased her gently back into a hug. "He's just in surgery. He's going to make it."

"Thank the gods." She breathed a sigh of relief against his shirt. "Is now a bad time to mention that your apartment went boom?"

Hackett shook his head at her. "I'm just glad that you didn't go _boom_ with it."

Fia carefully extracted herself from her father's arms and eased back down into the chair. The pain meds were obviously wearing off because her whole body hurt. An Alliance officer came in to whisper in her father's ear so she leaned her head back against the chair and closed her eyes for a moment.

When Fia opened her eyes again, the light had shifted in the room. A clock on the wall told her three hours at passed. It explained the crick in her neck. Her dad was sitting across the room deep in conversation with Shepard who was reclining on the hospital bed. She didn't hear a word of their conversation. She was too focused on the man on the bed.

"You need to go on a diet."

They hadn't been the first words that she intended to say, but they just kind of spilled out along with the tears now running down her face.

Hackett looked first at his daughter then at Shepard. "I need to go check with Commander Bailey to see if the comms are finally working reliably."

Shepard watched him leave then turned back to Fia. "I'm not supposed to get up. Could you come here?"

It took her a moment, but she finally stood and moved over to the bed. Shepard shifted slightly to make enough room for her to climb up on the bed next to him. She stretched out beside him and his arm wrapped tightly around her.

"Watch the shoulder." Fia winced until he eased his hold slightly.

"He told me that you found me." Shepard spoke after a prolonged silence. "How the hell did you get me back to the hospital?"

"I carried you. And for the record, you weigh a fucking ton. I wasn't joking about the…" The rest of her sentence was cut off when Shepard pressed his lips against hers. When he pulled back, she gave him a questioning glance. "Shep?"

"I'm not dancing around this with you anymore, Fia." He reached up to touch some of the bruises and scratches on her face from the explosion. "Vega's a good guy, a great marine. But he can't fucking have you."

Fia raised an amused eyebrow at him. "Oh really?"

His mouth crashed down on hers again. He only paused when a not so quiet cough came from the door. "I'm busy."

"I can see that Commander. Would you mind taking your hands off of my daughter?" Hackett chuckled removing any sting from his words.

"I would actually." Shepard didn't budge and Fia was having trouble remembering that laughing hurt her shoulder.

"Then perhaps it's time to talk about your intentions towards my only child." Hackett stepped over to the bed and glared down at the Commander.

Fia looked from one man to the other then rolled her eyes. "I don't know about his intentions, but I fully intend to engage in sexual relations once my shoulder is all healed up."

"Ofelia." Hackett turned his glare towards her.

"What? He said Vega's off the table. I assumed that meant that Shep was on it." Fia grinned at her dad before deciding to take pity on him. She reached out to grab a hold of his hand. "I'm just glad that I didn't lose either of you to this war. I'm not sure that I could have survived it."

Hackett squeezed her hand gently, and then focused his attention back on Shepard. "You break her heart, Shepard, and I'll tear yours out of your chest by hand."

"How very medieval of you," Fia huffed at him. But Shepard just nodded at the Admiral.

"And Shepard, if you ever think about testing your biotics on her again, I'll space you out the nearest airlock," Hackett remarked before leaving the two alone in the room.

"How the hell did he find out about that?" Fia watched her dad walk away.

"So back to Vega."

"Who?" Fia grinned at him.

"Damn straight." Shepard reached down to pull the blanket up over them.

Neither of them was medically cleared to engage in anything remotely fun. But for once, just being there in his arms, it was enough. The chaos outside with doctors running around faded. The reapers were gone. Sleep came then for both of them.


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N:**

**So remember when I said that last chapter was the last one, I lied.**

**Bioware owns All…except for Ofelia Hackett, that's my character. Lol**

**Thanks for the follows, favorites and reviews.**

**Read. Enjoy. Review. I appreciate reviews, they keep me inspired to write more. =)**

Fia stared at the empty side of the bed next to her. She sighed in annoyance. Her dad was running Shepard ragged lately. The reaper war ended three months ago, but Shepard and the _Normandy _were busy with the rebuilding effort. Fia had somehow gotten roped in to staying on Earth helping Hackett with getting the Alliance fleets reorganized.

_The rat bastard had conned her. _

"_I need you, Ofelia."_

He'd given her that damn fatherly look and she'd caved. She glanced at her omni-tool to check the time. 0245. It was impossible to know where Shep was at the moment. Something had to give though, or she was going to lose her fucking mind.

* * *

_Inter-Relay Text Chat_

_Location: Vancouver_

_From: Fia_

_To: Shepard_

_02:45: F: Shepard? You awake?_

_02:49: S: No. _

_02:50: F: Do you think he's doing this on purpose?_

_02:51: S: Who?_

_02:52: F: Dad. Keeping us apart._

_02:53: S: Ahh. Would Admiral Hackett keep his daughter from seeing a lover on purpose? Is that a rhetorical question?_

_02:54: F: Bastard. _

_02:55: S: He's your father._

_02:56: F: That's very helpful. I have a plan._

_02:57: S: I was afraid that you were going to say that. What are the odds that I'm going to get court martialled or Cat-6'd?_

_02:58: User has disconnected._

* * *

Fia was getting tired of typing. She sent Shepard a vid-comm request. It took a moment before he answered. He looked…adorably ruffled. He was in a white t-shirt and boxers. He was still half asleep. _Adorable._

"Fia?"

"I was starting to forget what you looked like." She sank down on the edge of the bed that faced her terminal.

"It's good to see you to." He grinned at her.

"How soon can you head to the Citadel?" She played with the dogtags around her neck.

"I can be there within the hour if needed. Why?" His eyes narrowed suspiciously.

"I'm heading to the Citadel in a day or two."

"New orders?" He looked confused.

"I'm retiring from the Alliance." She glanced down at her tags. "I've gotten a job offer that…is a better use of my time."

"What offer?"

"A friend of yours is in need of a good hacker." Fia wasn't sure how he was going to feel about this. "I'll do most of my work from the Citadel. But I can realistically do it anywhere. So I can travel…with you."

"Liara?" Shepard didn't take long to figure out who she was talking about.

Fia nodded in response. "I'm turning in my resignation tomorrow."

"He's going to be pissed." Shepard gave her a worried look.

"Probably." Fia ran a hand through her hair with a sigh. "I miss you."

"I'll see you on the Citadel." Shepard waved then disconnected the comm.

_Men._

Fia didn't tell Shepard that she'd already sent the letter of resignation to her dad. He clearly hadn't read it yet. She decided to start packing since she was already awake. It would be wise not to hang around once Hackett read the letter.

A sharp banging on her door a few hours later at 0600 told her that he'd checked his messages already.

_Shit._

Hackett was standing on the other side of her door with a datapad in his hand and an angry look on his face. Fia stepped back to let him into her apartment. He stormed inside and tossed it on her dining room table.

"What the hell is that?" He gestured towards the table.

"A datapad?" She raised an eyebrow at him.

"Ofelia."

"I have no idea but I'm going to guess that it's my official letter of resignation." Fia sat on one of the dining room chairs. If he was going to yell, she had no intention of being uncomfortable for it. "I don't know what you're so pissed off about. You never wanted me to join the fucking Alliance in the first place."

"That is not…" Hackett glanced up at the ceiling while taking a few deep breaths.

Fia couldn't hold back her laughter. "You used to do that when I was a kid. It was usually followed by a '_go to your room or I'll ship you to Earth to dig in the mines.'_ By the way, there aren't any mines to dig in anymore."

Hackett just continued counting under his breath while Fia practically fell out of her chair laughing.

"Dad, look, I don't understand why you're trying to keep me on Earth. I can't be celibate for the rest of my life. I love Shepard, I'm fairly certain he feels the same." She couldn't figure out what was at the root of his issue with her leaving. "Why the hell are you…"

"You almost _died_. Twice! And I won't give you orders like that again. I can't." He was still looking up and didn't notice her movement until she had wrapped her arms around him.

"I know it's a struggle. But you could try simply saying, 'I love you and I'm worried about you'." Fia chuckled.

"Will it change your mind if I do?"

"No, dad, it won't." She stepped back to give him a serious look. "I'm leaving whether I have your blessing or not."

He touched a hand to one of the scars on her neck left over from Akuze. "I failed you as a father so many times, I just want to get it right at some point."

_Damn it._

"Trying to force celibacy on me is not going to help your cause." She started to laugh but stopped at the look on his face. She sighed, "listen to me. You did the best that you could. And I know you love me. Isn't that what matters most?"

"Are you still leaving?"

She nodded.

"Keep in touch this time, Fia." He made the request sound more like an order, he'd always been good at that. "And if he breaks your heart..."

"Yea, yea." She waved off the threat and went back to packing.


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N:**

***Make contain potential triggers***

**Bioware owns All…except for Ofelia Hackett, that's my character. Lol**

**Thanks for the follows, favorites and reviews.**

**Read. Enjoy. Review. I appreciate reviews, they keep me inspired to write more. =)**

The _Normandy _wasn't due on the Citadel for two more days, Shepard had gotten delayed by Wrex on Tuchanka. Her dad wanted her to wait to leave, but she wasn't falling for that gain. She decided to hang out at his apartment on the Citadel until Shepard arrived.

Fia stepped into C-sec Headquarters to say hi to Commander Bailey. He conned her into helping crack a coded message that they'd received a few days earlier. Before she knew it, she'd been sitting in front of a terminal for over eight hours straight. She solved the code but she was fucking exhausted. She headed to her dad's apartment.

She tried contacting Shepard via the comm but he didn't respond. She curled up on the couch to read through some of her recent messages but ended up dozing off before she even got through the first one.

When she woke up the following morning, she tried to stretch her legs out only to find something heavy in the way. She opened her eyes to find Shepard sitting on the couch. She reached a hand out to grab his shirt-sleeve. She tugged on it until he got the message. He stretched out beside her on the couch. Fia twisted around so she was lying across him. His fingers traced the scars along her neck.

"Miss me?" She grinned down at him.

His fingers moved from her neck to her lips. "It's been fucking torture. And don't get comfortable, I want you…on the _Normandy,_ in my quarters."

"So I retired from the Alliance." Fia spoke against his fingers.

"I know I received a rather scathing message from Hackett about it." Shepard eased out from under her. He stood and pulled her up with him.

"Where are we going?" She frowned when he grabbed her bag in one hand and her arm in the other. He started for the door.

"If you think that after all these months, I'm sleeping with you for the first time in Admiral Hackett's bed, you have lost your damn mind." Shepard guided her into the elevator.

Fia laughed until tears rolled down her face. "Oh Shep, I have missed you. It's not like he has the damn place bugged or..."

Shepard gave her a horrified glance. "Do I need to remind you about..."

"Stop right there, I do not want to think about Hackett seeing anything that we did in his office." Fia grabbed her side it hurt from laughing. "Or on his desk."

"Maybe that's why I've never gotten promoted beyond Commander." Shepard chuckled before helping her into the skycar.

"Maybe it's because we wrecked his car that one summer." Fia pondered. "And by we, I mean you."

"You distracted me." Shepard gave her an amused look.

It took Fia a while to get _settled _in Shepard's quarters. He kept _distracting_ her. The distraction took a couple of hours, but then he started going over mission reports. She used the time to unpack and then check her messages. She had two.

* * *

_From: S. Hackett_

_To: O. Hackett_

_Subj: re: retirement._

_I've processed your paperwork._

_Keep in touch._

_Dad_

_._

* * *

_From: Mom_

_To: Fia_

_Subj: Credits._

_I need credits._

_You know the account number._

_Mom_

* * *

Fia's heart dropped when she saw the message from her mother. Patricia was supposed to be locked up on the Citadel. If she needed credits, she obviously wasn't in jail._ Fuck_.

* * *

_From: Fia_

_To: Mom_

_Subj: re: Credits_

_No._

_Fia_

* * *

_From: Mom_

_To: Fia_

_Subj: re: Credits_

_Send credits to me, or maybe I'll send Hackett an anonymous message with the truth about your 18th birthday._

_Mom_

_._

* * *

"What's wrong?" Shepard looked up at her over the top of the datapad in his hand. Fia forwarded the message to him. He read it a moment later. "Fucking witch. What are you going to do?"

"Can I use your vid-comm?" She took deep breath then forwarded the message on to her father. "I'm going to have to tell him the truth. I'm not giving her another damn credit."

"Do you want me to stay?" He gave her a hug when she shook her head, then he headed out of the room.

Fia stepped over in front of the terminal and sent a connection request to her dad. It was good ten minutes before he appeared.

"Hey." She ran a hand nervously through her hair. "Did you see the message?"

"Tell me about your eighteenth birthday, Fia." Hackett's face was unreadable. It was times like this that she wished he could show a goddamn emotion.

"I…" She felt her own emotions starting to build. It was overwhelming. "I can't do this."

She shut down the connection and wandered around the ship trying to find Shepard. He was in the lounge going over reports. She threw herself into his arms and buried her face against his neck.

"What did he say?" Shepard asked after a moment.

"I disconnected before I told him anything." She admitted with a sigh.

"You started the ball rolling, I'm afraid it's too late not to tell him." Shepard glanced down when his omni-tool beeped, a moment later, Fia's did as well. "I have ten credits that say they're from the same damn person."

"Why does she always fuck everything up for me?" Fia pulled her omni-tool up to find a message from her dad.

* * *

_From: Adm. Hackett_

_To: Shepard, O. Hackett_

_Subj: Normandy…_

…_is to remain on the Citadel until further notice._

_I will see you there at 0900._

_Hackett_

* * *

The Admiral had a long night thinking over all the things that could have happened on her eighteenth birthday. He remembered how excited that Fia had been when he told her that he going to be in London for a meeting with other members of the Admiralty. He wanted her to join him for the trip, and they'd celebrate her birthday together for the first time in a long time.

He'd planned a great meal in the West-End. But then the meetings had gone late into the night. He headed to the restaurant a couple of hours late to find her gone. She wasn't at the hotel either. He was damn near panicked when a message from Shepard had arrived indicating that he'd paid for transport for Fia to Vancouver.

Shepard was twenty at the time and had just received his first military assignment. Fia had been itching to join the Alliance but Hackett had refused to give her permission. He didn't find out until later that she'd joined up in Vancouver. He'd been furious, but it was too late. She was already on her way to becoming an Alliance marine.

Hackett shook off the memories as he stepped on the _Normandy_. Fia and Shepard were both waiting for him in the lounge. The rest of the crew had made themselves scarce. He motioned for the Commander to leave but his daughter kept her hand firmly grasped around his arm.

"So…what is it that Patricia and the Commander know that you couldn't tell your own damn father?" Hackett stood in the middle of the room.

"Just about everything?" Shepard answered derisively.

"Not helping, Shep." Fia nudged him with her elbow. "What do you remember about that last night in London?"

"I remember everything. What I don't know is why the hell you bolted from the city without telling me." Hackett gave Shepard a warning glance.

"There was a girl attacked a few blocks from the restaurant that we were supposed to go to. Did you know that?" Fia appeared to be having trouble meeting his gaze.

"I did. I spent several panicked hours worrying that it had been you." Hackett didn't like where this conversation was going.

"It…" Fia glanced up at Shepard. "I think I need to do this alone."

Shepard placed a kiss on her lips, and headed for the door. He paused as he walked past the Admiral. He leaned in to whisper so only Hackett heard. "Don't fuck this up, _Admiral_. You might not get another chance to be there for her."

Hackett nodded sharply at the Commander before turning back to his daughter. He watched her fidget anxiously with her omni-tool. With a deep sigh, he moved closer to take a seat across from her. He reached out to take her hands in his. "Talk to me, Fia. Please?"

"I was so angry that you were late. And I knew you weren't going to let me join the Alliance. I stormed out of the restaurant. But I wasn't paying attention to where I was going and I ended up lost. I was…he grabbed me out of nowhere. I fought, I remembered all the things that you taught me when you rescued me…how to fight. But…he was…I didn't stand a chance." She kept her gaze focused on their clasped hands. "I don't remember much about the attack to be honest. I just remember waking up in an alley with a couple of cops standing over me. I didn't want them to figure out who I was. So I bolted before they could get my identification."

"Why didn't you tell me?" Hackett's hands tightened around hers.

"I called Shepard. He was celebrating his graduation in Vancouver. He…he paid for the shuttle to Vancouver. He took me to a clinic. And then he helped me sign up at the recruiting office. I was eighteen, they couldn't turn me down just because my last name said, Hackett." Fia didn't answer his question.

"But why didn't you tell me?" He pressed her for an answer.

"You always pushed me away. It's like you didn't want me to around, but…it's so damn confusing with you, Dad. I know you love me. I can feel it. But there's this wall that I can never get past and I don't understand why. Am I such a disappointment? Have I been such a…" Her voice trailed off and she kept her head down but he felt a few tears land on his hand.

"I was afraid…afraid that seeing me reminded you of what happened that day when you were six. I thought I was doing the right thing." He placed a finger under her chin to lift her head. "You have _never_ been a disappointment to me."

"You are an idiot." She frowned at him.

"Excuse me?"

"Dad, seriously, you thought that seeing you would…I'm alive because of what you did that day. Please stop using that as an excuse." Fia rolled her eyes at him. "The only thing that I need you to do is be my dad. End of story."

"I can do that."


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N:**

**Shout out to CelticGrace for all your brainstorming help.**

**Bioware owns All…except for Ofelia Hackett, that's my character. Lol**

**Thanks for the follows, favorites and reviews.**

**Read. Enjoy. Review. I appreciate reviews, they keep me inspired to write more. =)**

"Commander Shepard?" Hackett glanced up at him in surprise. "Aren't you supposed to be on Rannoch?"

"I need a moment of your time." Shepard had no intentions of getting distracted by mission reports or debriefs. This was a personal matter. He'd come in jeans and a t-shirt to emphasis that point. He hadn't worn his N7 jacket either. "I want your blessing to ask Fia to marry me."

The Admiral sat on the edge of his desk with his arms folded across his chest. "You want my blessing? What if I say no?"

"Then you say fucking no. I'll ask her anyway, and you won't be invited to the wedding." Shepard called the Admiral's bluff. "I'm not asking for me. I don't give a damn one way or another. But Fia will. She'll want you walk her down the aisle and a father-daughter dance at the reception. Are you willing to give all that up, Admiral?"

"Don't push me, Commander."

Shepard took a deep breath and then went in for the kill. "You've missed everything else in her life. What difference will this make? She might not even notice that you aren't there."

"You son-of…" Hackett's voice trailed off. He was silent for so long that Shepard started to leave. "Do you have a ring?"

"A ring? " Shepard took a moment to catch up. "Not yet."

Hackett reached across his desk to pull a box out of the top drawer. He tossed it to the Commander. "It was my grandmother's ring. I've been waiting for you to drag your sorry ass in here."

Inside the box, Shepard found a sapphire engagement ring that looked like it was at least a century or two old. It was beautiful, Fia would love it. He closed the box and looked up at the Admiral. "So I have your blessing?"

"I thought you didn't need it." Hackett raised an eyebrow.

"I don't." Shepard met his gaze without flinching.

"Well…you have it," Hackett remarked.

"Good." Shepard stared down at the box in his hand. He started for the door but stopped just before he reached it.

"Was there something else, Shepard?" Hackett asked. When Shepard hesitated, the Admiral turned his full attention towards him. "Get it off your chest, Commander."

"The wedding, when it happens, you had better goddamn be there." Shepard strode back across the office and stopped just short of being nose to nose with Hackett. "I don't give a damn about rebuilding the Alliance or Earth or any of it. You will be there for Fia for this wedding."

"What kind of father do you take me for, Shepard? Do you honestly think I'd miss my only daughter's wedding?" Hackett appeared genuinely surprised at the warning.

"You missed her graduation from the Academy. You've missed damn near every important event including when she was brought back from Akuze on a goddamn stretcher." Shepard needed to get control over his temper. This had always been a sore spot for him, watching Fia put on a brave face when the Admiral disappointed her again.

"I think you've said enough." Hackett placed a hand on his chest to push him back. "I am well aware of my short-comings as a father. You have my blessing, and you have my word that I'll be there. I believe that it's time you got the hell out of my office."

Shepard started to apologize but decided it was best to just leave. _Damn it._ If Fia ever found out what he'd said to her dad, she would flay him alive. He just didn't want anything to spoil what he hoped would be a happy occasion. Now he had to figure out how the hell to propose. He shoved the ring into his pocket and headed back to the _Normandy_.

The ship was relatively empty when he got back to it. The crew was taking advantage of shore-leave in Vancouver. He found Fia in his quarters. She sat cross-legged on the couch with a pile of datapads around her. She glanced up when he stepped into the room.

"So how was dad?" She gave him a knowing look.

"I have no idea what you're talking about." Shepard stepped over to his aquarium and became very fascinated by feeding the fish.

"I tried to invite him to dinner a minute ago, and he sounded the most pissed off that I've ever heard him. He said he was too damn busy and disconnected the call." Fia raised an eyebrow at Shepard. "And you have been gone all afternoon. Since I've been here all day, the only other person who could possible of ticked him off that badly would be you. What the hell did you say to him?"

_Goddamn woman._

_This was not fucking romantic. He was not going to propose to her in his goddamn quarters while they argued about her father._

"Stop trying to think up a story that I'll believe and tell me the truth." Fia crossed her arms and glared at him. It was identical to the look her dad had given him and he couldn't help but laugh. "Shep?"

"You have too much damn Hackett blood in you." He stepped over towards her with a chuckle. He reached down to take her hand and lift her up out of the reports. "C'mon, I want to take you somewhere."

"Fine, but you're going to tell me what you said later." Fia grabbed her jacket that was dangling from the chair and followed him into the elevator. "Where are we going?"

"You'll see."

It took a thirty minute shuttle ride to get to Third Beach, an area that had been reclaimed after the reaper war. It was a beautiful beach that was completely deserted at the moment. Cortez winked at Shepard as he guided Fia out of the shuttle. The pilot would fly back for them in a couple hours. He'd enlisted the help of a few friends to make this possible.

They walked along the beach down a ways to find a small tent set up. There was a small table covered with plates and candles, cushions and a blanket circled the table. Someone had strung up twinkling lights along the top of the tent. Fia stepped inside with an amazed look on her face. She glanced back at Shepard only to find him down on one knee.

"What…" Her hand covered her mouth.

He held up the ring. "So, will you marry me?"

Her hand trembled as she took the ring. "This looks like…oh my god…you asked him for permission. You ballsy bastard."

"Please tell me that's a yes." Shepard grinned at her.

Fia threw herself into his arms. The momentum sent him backwards and they landed in a heap on the sand laughing. "That's a hell fucking yes."

Shepard took the ring and slid it on her finger. He turned her hand back and forth watching the way the light sparkled against the sapphire. "It looks good on you."

"Wait a second," Fia sat up and brushed some of the sand from her clothes. "Why the hell was he so pissed off?"

"Please don't ask me that right now." Shepard tried to pull her in for a kiss.

"Shepard." She had that look that meant she was not going to be distracted by anything, even naked bits.

"We might have had a slight argument." Shepard stood and pulled Fia up with him. He guided her over to the tent once again.

"An argument about what?" Fia grabbed one of the glasses of wine on the table and sipped.

"You." Shepard shrugged. He wasn't going to rehash the conversation for her. "He gave his blessing on the proposal. And he promised to be there at the wedding."

"Of course he'll be…" Fia's voice trailed off. "You yelled at him. What did you say?"

He hated how goddamn brilliant she was at times like this. "Can't we just enjoy the romantic evening?"

"I will drown you in the goddamn Vancouver Bay." She pointed her glass of wine at him.

"I don't remember exactly what I said, but I might have suggested that he had never been there for you and if he failed to show up, I wouldn't be surprised a damn bit. I might have also threatened to not invite him to the wedding if he said no." Shepard took a bite of one of the small cakes on the table. It tasted good, he had no fucking clue what it was, but it was good.

Fia ran her hand across her eyes and then emptied her glass. She set the glass on the table. "Thank you."

"What?"

"For caring enough to ask for his permission, for caring enough to be angry at what I'm sure you think is his constant abandonment of me." She placed her hand on his cheek. "I love you, Shep. And I'm going to marry you, and this was incredibly sweet."

"But?"

"Get Cortez back here now. I am not getting married under a black cloud with you two jackasses." She grabbed his arm and dragged him out of the tent.

"But the food…"

"Consider it an offering to the gods." She continued pulling him back towards where the shuttle would pick them up.

* * *

It was about an hour before Fia stood in front of her father's door with Shepard by her side. She had a firm grasp on the Commander's arm. Not for her sake, but to keep him from bolting. _Coward. _ She couldn't enjoy her engagement and wedding without clearing the air first though. Hackett hadn't been a perfect father, far from it. But Shepard had never known the whole story, and it was fucking time to get it all out in the open.

"Fia? Commander?" Her father looked surprised to see them. He glanced down at her hand but she'd purposefully kept it in her pocket. "What can I do for you both?"

She grabbed Shepard by the ear and then her father by his ear and dragged them both into the living room. She shoved Hackett into one of the chairs in the room, and Shepard into one of the opposite side. She pointed angrily at both of them to stay put.

"I want to tell you a story, Shepard." She spoke to her fiancé but kept her eyes on her father. "It's an old story. Something that happened a long time ago, over twenty years ago in fact."

"Ofelia." Her father gave her a pained glance.

"He needs to know, dad." She walked over to sit on the edge of her father's chair. She let him wrap an arm around her waist. "He needs to understand."

"What the hell are you talking about?" Shepard leaned forward to rest his elbows on his knees.

"Do you know what happened after Hackett found out that he had a daughter?" Fia asked.

"Yea, he pawned you off on my parents."

"That is…partially true." She stared down at the ring on her finger.

"Partially?" Shepard sounded confused. "I remember it quite distinctly."

"That's the funny thing about being a kid; you only ever know part of the story." She smiled sadly up at him. "It's a little more complicated than that."

"You don't have to…" Her father started but she silenced him with a look.

"You know that my moth…Patricia took money from dad in exchange for me. But, then she sent me to the drug dealer and kept the credits. He liked little girls." Fia kept her gaze on her hands. She couldn't tell this story if she had to meet his eyes. "He liked them. And he liked me, and he settled her debt for it. I'd been listening to her conversations with the Admiral. I sent him a message…I…He promised to come get me. And…"

"Fia? You don't have to tell me." Shepard started towards her but she motioned for him to stay seated.

"I found her." Hackett had apparently decided to pick up the story himself. He ignored her look of annoyance. _Typical. _"I traced the message to the Terminus Systems. The colonies back then…were a wild, dangerous place to be. No one was regulating what the mercenaries were doing. She was so goddamn small. This tiny six year old little thing, she stood in the corner of this room with her fists clenched at her side and eyes blazing. She'd been trying to fight him off. He'd…he was a very bad man and I enjoyed killing the son-of-bitch."

"It was impressive." Fia remembered every damn detail of her father rushing into the room. He looked like he was ten feet tall to her at the time. He'd swung her up in his arms. He kept her face pressed against the front of his armor with one hand while emptying his pistol into the drug dealer with the other.

"I was on the front lines back then. Not managing the fleets from the relative safety of Arcturus, I wanted to keep her safe. So I sent her to your parents. And by the time I had command of the Fifth fleet, she'd gotten used to it." Hackett smiled sadly up at her.

"I thought your mother dropped you off on Arcturus." Shepard frowned at her. "That's what my parents told me.

"I asked them to lie," Hackett admitted. "I wanted her to feel normal, to forget what had happened to her."

"To forget?" Shepard seemed to have come to some realization. "That's why you stayed away. You thought that she'd forget if you weren't around."

"Which as I informed him a few weeks ago, was completely flawed logic." Fia shifted so that she could give her dad a hug. "Now, you two boneheads are going to listen to me very carefully."

"Boneheads?" Shepard exchanged an amused glance with Hackett.

"I am getting married. And you will both be there." She looked between the two men. "And you will be happy, and you will not get pissy with each other."

"Pissy? I do not get _pissy_." Hackett raised an eyebrow at her.

"Please don't turn into a bossy bride." Shepard gave her a pleading look.

"I'm serious." She glared at them both. "I don't want to spend either my wedding or my life for that matter feeling like I've got to pick sides between my father and my husband."

"You said husband." Shepard grinned at her.

"I did." She grinned back.

Hackett rolled his eyes. "Please tell me that this wedding is soon."


	15. Chapter 15

**A/N:**

**Bioware owns All…except for Ofelia Hackett, that's my character. Lol**

**Thanks for the follows, favorites and reviews.**

**Read. Enjoy. Review. I appreciate reviews, they keep me inspired to write more. =)**

"How do you feel about pink?" Kasumi asked.

"How do you feel about electro-shock therapy?" Fia retorted.

The minute news of their engagement spread, the _women_ in Shepard's life descended on Fia almost immediately. They all had ideas for how to plan the wedding. Kasumi and Liara were the most insistent. Shepard had conveniently found himself on an _emergency_ mission that required his immediate attention. So she was left to the wolves.

"I'm seeing flowers and…" Kasumi wandered around gesturing wildly.

"I'm seeing your head on a fucking platter." Fia muttered under her breath. She'd about reached her tolerance level. She'd been raised on fucking ships and played with toy soldiers. Dresses and flowers were just not her thing. "I need some air."

She left Kasumi and Liara to fawn over all the wonderful things they'd been researching on the extranet and headed outside. Instead of staying on the _Normandy_, Fia had used part of her retirement credits to buy a condo near the bay in Vancouver. She wandered down towards the bay to sit on one of the benches on the promenade. She pulled up her omni-tool.

* * *

_From: Fia_

_To: Shep_

_Subj: So… _

…_how do you feel about eloping?_

_Fia_

* * *

_From: Shep_

_To: Fia_

_Subj: re: eloping_

_Why?_

_Shep_

* * *

_From: Fia_

_To: Shep_

_Subj: re: eloping_

_Alternately, how attached to Kasumi and Liara are you?_

_If they had an unfortunate accident, would you be…upset?_

_Fia_

* * *

_From: Shep_

_To: Fia_

_Subj: Ahhh._

_Trouble with planning the wedding?_

_Shep_

* * *

_From: Fia_

_To: Shep_

_Subj: Ahhh my ass._

_Yes you goddamn coward._

_They're going on about pink and flowers and shit._

_Do I look like that kind of woman? Say yes and you are never getting laid again._

_Fia_

_._

* * *

_From: Shep_

_To: Fia_

_Subj: re: pink_

_I'm not saying a word._

_So…eloping?_

_You do realize that your father will murder BOTH of us._

_But if you're serious, there's a beautiful little chapel on Elysium._

_Shep_

* * *

_From: Fia_

_To: Shep_

_Subj: Elysium_

_So…if I could hypothetically find myself on Elysium in a few days?_

_Would you be there?_

_Fia_

* * *

_From: Shep_

_To: Fia_

_Subj: re: Elysium_

_On a scale of one to ten with ten being see you there in a couple days, how serious are you?_

_Shep_

* * *

_From: Fia _

_To: Shep_

_Subj: re: scale._

_Ten._

_Fia_

* * *

_From: Shep_

_To: Fia_

_Subj: re: ten._

_Book a transit to Elysium. It'll be too obvious if the Normandy picks you up._

_Let me know when you're going to be there._

_Shep_

* * *

On a scale of one to ten, her father would be apocalyptic when he found out that they had eloped. With the best thief that she'd ever met and the goddamn Shadow Broker in her home, Fia had to use all her tech skills to figure out which ship was heading for the Vetus System. It left Vancouver at ten thirty the next morning and arrived in Elysium several hours later. She sent Shepard the information, and then feigned a migraine to get Kasumi and Liara out of her hair.

She was packing an overnight bag when her dad showed up at the door. She'd forgotten that he was coming over take her out for dinner. _Shit. _She stowed her bag in the closet and invited him in.

"Can I take a rain check, Dad? I've got a killer migraine." She feigned what she hoped was a pained look on her face.

His eyes narrowed at her. "You know, I've always loved that when you're trying to lie to me, you bite at the corner of your mouth."

"I've been dealing with overly cheerful wedding planners all day; I really do have a migraine." She immediately compressed her lips together.

"Fine. Let's have dinner tomorrow." He kissed her forehead and then headed towards the door. He glanced back at her before stepping outside. "Just don't elope, ok? I'd like to be there for at least one of the important events in your life."

_Shit._

"Ofelia?"

She just stared at him. "Yeah dad, no worries. I'll see you tomorrow."

Hackett frowned again but finally left. Fia was left with a huge uneasy feeling in the pit of her stomach. Her dad was going to be completely crushed when he found out. She didn't sleep at all that night. She was heading for the port the next morning and somehow her feet led her to her dad's office at the Alliance Headquarters instead.

She stepped inside to find him up to his elbows in datapads. "Dad?"

He looked up at her in surprise. He glanced at the clock on the wall then back at her. "Is everything ok?"

"Yea, fine."

"Then why are you biting your lip?" He stepped around the desk and sat on the edge of it. "What's going on?"

"I…"

"You're starting to scare me." He prompted after she'd been silent for a few minutes.

"I'm supposed to be on the ship that's leaving for Elysium right now." She paced in front of him.

"Elysium? Why?"

"The _Normandy_ will be docking on Elysium in about six hours," Fia continued.

"You are going to elope." Hackett's face fell for a moment before the stoic Admiral mask slid back in place.

_Shit._

"I…was…going to elope. But, I can't. I mean I want to marry Shepard. I just really need you there." She stopped pacing to stand in front of her dad. "It wouldn't be the same with you. I can't replace those memories. I've got so many that don't include you…and you have to be in these."

He grabbed her arm and pulled her into a hug. "Thank the gods. I knew about your ticket to Elysium. I'd planned to try to beat you there but I've been stuck in meetings until now. I was just getting ready to leave."

"What?"

"The captain of the ship is a good friend of mine. He thought that I should know my daughter was leaving the city." Hackett smiled at the stunned look on her face. "So why did you want to elope in the first place?"

"Kasumi and Liara are driving me insane with their ideas for the perfect wedding. I hate all of it." She stepped back out of his arms.

He wrapped his arm around her shoulders and led her out of his office. "Let's go get some coffee and we can figure out a way to keep you from losing your mind."

They had coffee, and strolled by the bay for several hours. It wasn't until later that she realized that she'd forgotten to message Shepard about the change of plans. _Fuck._ She tried to reach him over the comm but he didn't answer. _Shit._ He was going to think that she stood him up.

She was having dinner with her dad that evening when Shepard finally got in contact with her. Not via comm, but in person.

"You bastard, this was your idea. You talked her out of marrying me." Shepard stormed into the restaurant that they were eating at. Hackett surged to his feet and they stood nose to nose.

"Don't you check your damn messages?" Fia stepped between the two men. "I wasn't standing you up."

"You will control yourself, Commander." Hackett moved Fia out-of-the-way.

"Oh I'm sorry, Admiral. We can't all be heartless like you. It's no wonder Fia cried herself to sleep at night with a father like you." Shepard poked a finger in his chest.

Hackett reared back and slammed his fist straight into the Commander's jaw. And that was when Shepard's control over his temper completely snapped. Before Fia could intervene, the two men were trading punches. She stood beside them trying to decide how best to stop it before someone got hurt.

"Stop it." Fia tried to pull Shepard off her father but she just ended up stumbling backwards. "I swear, Shep, I wasn't trying to stand you up. I just decided that you were right about eloping being a bad idea."

Hackett started towards the Commander once again but this time Shepard raised his hands. Fia dove between them before Shepard could hit Hackett with a biotic throw. It hit her instead and sent her flying right through the glass windows at the front of the restaurant.

Fia rolled very carefully away from the glass. She stared up at the stars for a few minutes while she tried to remember how to breathe and making sure that there were no shards of glass in her body. Within seconds, there was a man kneeling on either side of her and both were spewing apologies. She lifted both of her hands up to cover their mouths.

"Shut the fuck up, both of you." She spoke quietly, mostly because everything hurt. "Goddamn it, Shep. Again? Wasn't the first time enough?"

"Fia…" Shepard stopped when she turned her head to glare at him.

"Help me up." She muttered.

Both men grabbed an arm and slowly pulled her to her feet, she shook her clothes out to clear away the dirt and glass slivers. She had a few cuts on her hands but other than that, she seemed relatively free of blood. _Thank the gods._ She waved the two men closer. When they were close enough, she reached up to smack both of them on the back of the head.

"I have a simple question that I want you both to think about. Do you love me more than you are pissed off at each other?" She glared at them one last time then stormed away.

"Think she's coming back?" Shepard glanced over at the Admiral.

"She's my daughter. She's not coming back, we're going after her," Hackett sighed.

"And then what?" Shepard followed him down the sidewalk.

"We grovel…a lot."

She was leaning against the wall around the corner a couple blocks away waiting for them. "Are you finished being idiots? Gotten all the stupidity out of your system?"

"Probably." Shepard lifted her hands to get a better look at them. "I'm sorry, Fia. So is he."

"We're prepared to grovel." Hackett pushed Shepard closer. "The Commander's going first."

"Typical." Fia rolled her eyes and laughed. "I'll settle for a cease-fire between the two of you."

"Agreed." They both nodded.


	16. Chapter 16

**A/N:**

**Bioware owns All…except for Ofelia Hackett, that's my character. Lol**

**Thanks for the follows, favorites and reviews.**

**Read. Enjoy. Review. I appreciate reviews, they keep me inspired to write more. =)**

Fia stood in front of the full length mirror. She couldn't remember the last time that she'd worn a dress. Dresses didn't work when you spent most of your time in front of a terminal. Kasumi and Liara had helped her design the dress. It was a simple wedding gown really. She'd opted for blue instead of white. The dress was a dark, indigo shade. Intricate lacing along the arms and neck were the only _girly_ things that she'd agreed to, there was an oval-shaped cutout in the back of the dress that showed her back.

They'd had to work around the scars left over from Akuze and Cerberus. She wasn't ashamed of what she'd been through but they didn't exactly make her feel beautiful. She'd been growing her hair out for a while, and it was long enough that Kasumi had been able to twist it into an elaborate braid. They had also taken her damn omni-tool from her before leaving her alone in the room, something about not contacting the groom before the ceremony.

_Bastards. _

She wandered over to the table in the corner of the room when a knock on the door caught her attention. She headed over to it and opened the door. The hallway in front of it was empty. Then a familiar hand shot out, she recognized the rank on the dress uniform sleeve.

"You're not supposed to be up here," she laughed.

"I know, but I have something for you. Kasumi was grumbling that you wouldn't wear the necklace that she picked…and I thought I might have a solution." Shepard kept himself hidden against the wall; all she could see was his arm.

"Ok? Where is it?" She really wanted to peer around the corner to see him.

The hand disappeared then it came back as a closed fist. She reached her hand out and he dropped a chain into it. She pulled her hand back to get a closer look at it. It was an exact replica of Shepard's dogtags. Not his regular ones, the melted ones that were half his and half hers. She closed her hand around the tags. She grabbed his hand before he pulled it away.

"Close your damn eyes." She muttered before moving close enough that she could place a kiss on his lips. "I love you, Shep."

His hands slid up into her hair. _Kasumi was going to kill both of them. _With a whispered 'I love you', Shepard deepened the kiss. He was backing her up against the wall when disapproving cough interrupted. They both glanced to the left to find Hackett standing with his arms folded across his chest.

"Aren't you supposed to be downstairs?" He gave Shepard a pointed look until the Commander left with a wink at his fiancé. Her dad turned back to find her draping the dogtags around her neck.

"You ready for this?" She reached down to shift the long trail that came with the gown as she attempted to move closer to him.

"Shouldn't I be asking that?" Hackett smiled at her. "You look beautiful, Ofelia."

"Want to trade?" She looked at his uniform with envy.

"I don't think it's my color." He touched a finger to one of the loose blue curls that framed her face.

_She'd refused to change her hair color for the damn wedding._

"So, I have something for you." She pointed towards a box resting on a nearby recliner.

He frowned at her then stepped over to pick up the box. He looked inside then back up at her. "I don't…"

"It occurred to me that maybe I've never told you how much I love you, and how proud I've always been that _Admiral Hackett_ is my dad. But…I've been keeping this journal since I was little, not a journal so much as a series of letters that I wrote every year on your birthday. And I've always intended to give them to you, but…" She wished that he'd look up so she could get a better feel for his reaction. "Kasumi helped me turn them into a set of audio and video files. There's a vid of my graduation in there. Stuff that maybe it's time you can feel like you were there for."

Hackett slid the small greybox into his uniform pocket. Then he finally looked up with tears in his eyes. "Thank you."

She gave him a quelling look. "Don't make me cry, damn it. Kasumi's a sneaky one, if I mess the crud on my face up, she'll hunt me down."

He chuckled and took her hand to lead her out of the room. The wedding march had always been Fia's least favorite part of the ceremony. All that damned slow walking; no one really walks that slowly. Her dad kept a firm grasp on her arm to keep her from speeding up the pace. He apparently chose to ignore the glare and the slight elbow dig to his ribs. _Bastard._ Finally though, they reached the Commander.

Hackett took her hand and started to place it on Shepard's arm. He hesitated for a moment. He looked Shepard in the eye. "I'm giving you someone who I can never replace. Take good care of her, Commander."

Shepard snapped salute at the Admiral and then Hackett placed Fia's hand on Shepard's arm. He stepped back and took a seat. Fia grinned up at Shepard. He winked and they turned to face the Alliance chaplain who was performing the ceremony.

Fia remembered snippets of the ceremony and reception. It was a blur of dancing, food, friends and laughter. There were moments that stood out to her though, Shepard whispering in her ear during the ceremony. Grunt and Wrex head-butting each other over who got to dance with her first. Kasumi making out with Vega in the women's bathroom was at the top of her most amusing moment's list.

The evening was starting to wind down when a song caught her attention. It was an old waltz piece that she'd heard her father listen to several times. A hand tapped her shoulder and she glanced up to find him standing with his hand held out. She grinned up at him and let him lead her on the dance floor.

"They're taking bets on if how long it takes me to trip or stomp on your foot." She nodded towards a table of rowdy _Normandy _crew members.

Hackett lifted her chin. "Just focus me, sweetheart. I'd _never_ let you fall."

He was leading her into a second dance once another song started when she saw a hand tap her father's shoulder. Hackett glanced back to find Shepard standing behind him.

"I believe this is my dance, Admiral." Shepard took her hand from her father, and then twirled her away. "I've shared you enough for one evening."

It wasn't until Shepard was helping her back to the _Normandy _which was acting like their taxi to get them off to their honeymoon destination, that she realized there was something in the pocket of her dress. She'd insisted on pockets, she refused to wear clothing that didn't contain pockets. She pulled out a small data drive.

She immediately headed over to Shepard's terminal once they arrived on the first deck to plug it in. She found a single series of messages from three days after her eighteenth birthday.

* * *

_From: Lieutenant J. Sheffield_

_To: Admiral Hackett_

_Subj: Ofelia Hackett_

_Admiral,_

_Your daughter walked into my recruitment office this morning demanding to be allowed to sign up. She was accompanied by a young academy graduate, John Shepard._

_Her file was flagged with your denial to her request previously._

_Would you like us to escort her home to you?_

_Lt. Sheffield_

_Vancouver Recruitment Office_

* * *

_From: Admiral Hackett_

_To: Lieutenant J. Sheffield_

_Subj: re: Ofelia Hackett_

_Lieutenant,_

_I appreciate your consideration of the matter._

_The Alliance would be lucky to have my daughter. She has a quick mind and has already shown a brilliant aptitude towards hacking and engineering skills._

_My recommendation would be to admit her and submit her for officer's training. _

_As her father, I have a biased opinion and I will obviously give you final say in the matter._

_I would also request that you not share my thoughts with her._

_Admiral Hackett_

* * *

"Holy fuck." Fia stared at the terminal. She scrolled down to find a third message.

* * *

_From: Dad_

_To: Fia_

_Subj: re: disappointment._

_In case you ever need proof, I have always been proud of you._

_Enjoy your honeymoon._

_Love,_

_Dad_

* * *

"That goddamn bastard." Fia muttered before letting Shepard read the messages. He chuckled before dragging her away from the terminal towards the bed. "So where are we going for our honeymoon?"

Shepard looked up from where he was trying to figure out all the ties and clasps that held her into the damn dress. "Elysium."

She stood snickering while he muttered and cursed at the dress. "Having trouble?"

"How attached to this fucking thing are you?" He tugged at the dress with an annoyed sigh.

"Not in the least, it's the most uncomfortable thing that I've ever worn."

"Good." Shepard reached up and ripped the damn thing off of her.


	17. Chapter 17

**A/N:**

**Bioware owns All…except for Ofelia Hackett, that's my character. Lol**

**Thanks for the follows, favorites and reviews.**

**Read. Enjoy. Review. I appreciate reviews, they keep me inspired to write more. =)**

The following evening after the wedding, Hackett finally had a moment alone to look at the gift from Fia later that night. He sat in bed and skimmed through the various titles to find a letter dated the day before the wedding.

* * *

_From: Fia_

_To: Dad_

_Subj: You're going to read this one first, aren't you?_

_You know what I remember the most from the day that you rescued me?_

_The shuttle ride back to your ship. _

_You didn't say anything. You just sat there beside me. And I remember feeling scared that you were angry at all the trouble I'd caused._

_I was little. I didn't understand red sand, debts and pedophiles. I just knew that you were angry, and it must have been my fault. And I knew that saying sorry never meant anything because mom said sorry all the time and it never meant anything._

_So I sat there for a long time trying to think of how to make you not angry. And finally, I gave you my prized possession. The only thing that I'd managed to keep my little hands on when the drug dealer grabbed me. It'd been in my pocket the whole time. It was a little replica of an Alliance cruiser. Mom had told me that my dad flew on one just like it, in one of her more lucid moments. _

_I didn't have dolls or teddy bears at night to chase the nightmares away. I slept with that damn cruiser under my pillow. _

_So I gave it to you. And I said sorry._

_And you gave me the strangest look; even now I can remember the look in your eyes. You took it without saying anything. And I went back to swinging my little legs in the shuttle seat. Then your hand took mine and you held it the whole way back to the ship._

_You were my hero. You still are. _

_I love you._

_Fia_

_PS. Sorry about the blue hair._

_PSS. Thanks for not shooting Shepard._

* * *

Hackett ignored the tears in his eyes and glanced over at the small model cruiser that rested on the side table next to his bed. If she hadn't been on her damn honeymoon, he'd have sent her a vid-comm request immediately.

He remembered that first day that she'd dyed her hair blue. They had a massive argument over her skipping class to sneak into a biotics demonstration with Shepard. He'd been furious at the time and told her that she was restricted to her room. He told her that she could argue until she was blue in the face but he wasn't going to change his mind. The next day he'd gotten a report from Shepard's mother that Fia had dyed her hair bright blue.

He'd learned to be a little less specific when arguing with his daughter. He chuckled to himself then glanced back down to scroll up to the first message. It was from his first birthday after he'd rescued Ofelia. She'd been seven at the time.

* * *

_From: Me_

_To: Dad_

_Subj: Birfdays._

_You said no gifts._

_But I want to give you one._

_So I hid it in your desk._

_Love_

_Me_

* * *

Hackett was torn between laughter and tears. He remembered quite vividly stepping into his office the morning of his birthday. He pulled out the desk drawer to find a very small, very dirty sock that was filled to the brim with a handful of mini marines. Someone had given Fia a crate of tiny soldiers to play _war_ with. She'd been more interested in them than she had the pretty doll that his yeoman had given her.

She'd been sad the next day though because she missed her soldiers. She liked playing Admiral of the navy the best. Hackett had managed to sneak them all back into her room without her noticing. The dirty sock had been disposed of as well. It was the last year that she'd been with him before he sent her to live with Shepard's family.

He pulled up the message that was from that year.

* * *

_From: Me_

_To: Dad_

_Subj: Shep._

_He stinks._

_Can I come live with you now?_

_Happy birfday._

_Love,_

_Me_

* * *

He was definitely going to have to send a copy of that one to Shepard. He skimmed through the next ones, before one caught his attention. It was from the year that Shepard and Fia had snuck onto a shuttle headed for Arcturus when they were teenagers. He'd always wondered why she'd done it. She could usually talk Shepard into just about anything, but her motivation hadn't been clear at the time.

* * *

_From: Fia_

_To: Dad_

_Subj: Arcturus._

_I know you're probably still ticked off that we stowed away on that shuttle. It's not Shepard's fault. _

_I just wanted to see you. I miss you. _

_And…mom's started sending me messages. I don't know how to tell you, you'll be pissed...again._

_She sounds like she's sober._

_Sometimes I wish it was easier to talk to you._

_Happy Birthday._

_Love,_

_Fia_

* * *

He shook his head at that. _Damn Patricia._ A message at the bottom of the list caught his attention, it wasn't from Fia.

* * *

_From: Liara T'soni_

_To: Admiral Hackett_

_Subj: File._

_Admiral,_

_I've asked Kasumi to sneak this file on here after Ofelia has finished._

_It's from the day the reapers took control of the Citadel. Don't ask me how I have it. She deleted it from her server._

_But I think you should see it. I'm also including a message that I found from the day that Cerberus captured her._

_Liara_

_Files included below:_

* * *

_From: Fia_

_To: Hackett_

_Subj: I fucked up._

_Hi,_

_I don't have much time. I…did something really stupid, Dad._

_I've been in contact with mom for years, and I should've told you before but I thought you'd yell, and then I'd yell. So I didn't._

_But…after we argued over Shepard's funeral, I started talking to her about you. And…she offered to let me stay with her. But something's not right; I've got a really bad feeling about it._

_I'm having trouble with my omni-tool and my bank account, so I can't get a flight out of Omega._

_I need help, Dad. I uh…I gotta go, there's someone banging on the door._

_I hope this reaches you._

_And I'm really sorry that I called you an asshole and told you to fuck off._

_Fia_

* * *

_From: Fia_

_To: Hackett_

_Subj: I told you so._

_So remember when you said I'd be safer on the Citadel?_

_You were wrong. And I told you so._

_Sorry, just don't get to say that to you very often and I wanted it recorded somewhere for posterity. _

_But seriously, here's the thing. I think that I'm going to die here which kind of sucks. And I really don't want to be a husk, so if push comes to shove, I'm shooting myself in the head._

_Cause…that's better than being a husk. Right?_

_I just wanted you to know a few things. _

_First, remember that time you lost your hat? I might have accidentally set it on fire. Sorry._

_Second, remember when you told me that if I ever got a tattoo that you'd disown me? If I'm dead and you have to identify the body, please don't disown me. _

_Third, don't kill Shepard even though the first and second points are mostly his fault. He's too cute to die._

_I love you._

_And I'm really sorry that I believed what mom said._

_Fia_

* * *

The Admiral's curiosity got the better of him. He stepped over to his terminal to send a message to Ofelia. There were a few things that he needed to say, and a question that he wanted an answer to.

* * *

_From: S. Hackett_

_To: O. Hackett_

_Subj: Your gift._

_Don't read this until you're back from your honeymoon. _

_But, first, thank you for sharing those letters with me. I don't have words…just thank you._

_And I'm sorry that you've felt like you couldn't talk with me about things…like your mom. I'm always here for you, even if sometimes it doesn't seem that way._

_More importantly, I think it's time that you told me what exactly it is that Patricia said to convince you to come to her for help._

_Love,_

_Dad_

* * *

He hadn't expected a response to come almost immediately.

* * *

_Inter-Relay Text Chat_

_Location: Elysium_

_From: Fia_

_To: Hackett_

_11:03 F: Hey Dad._

_11:04 H: Shouldn't you be asleep or doing something that I don't want to hear any details about?_

_11:07 F: Heh. Shepard's snoring. I think he's worn out. Want to know why?_

_11:08 H: No, I really don't._

_11:10 F: So…how the hell did you get a copy of the message that I tried to send you from Omega?_

_11:12 H: Doctor T'soni._

_11:14 F: I think that this is one of those times that you really don't want the answer to the question that you're asking._

_11:16 H: Ofelia._

_11:17 F: That doesn't work as well when I can't hear you._

_11:19 H: I'm waiting._

_11:21 F: She showed me a copy of a message that she claimed that she sent to you when I was three. It included your 'response.' It was all fake, I figured that out later. If I hadn't been so pissed off at the time, then I would have checked then._

_11:23 H: Do you still have the copy?_

_11:24 F: No, and if I did, I wouldn't send it to you. _

_11:25 H: Is that everything? She just sent you a message and that was enough for you._

_11:28 F: On the greybox that I gave you, you'll find a locked file. It's titled, Omega. The password is my birthday. Everything that you want so badly to know is on there. Just…don't be too hurt or disappointed in me, ok?_

_11:29 User has disconnected._

* * *

Hackett frowned at the blank comm. He tried to reconnect but she refused. He wandered back over to the bed and got comfortable. He pulled up the file and found himself watching what must have been a series of vids spliced together. The first vid was just Fia standing there; it looked from the length of her hair, like it was recorded a few days before the wedding.

"Hi dad. You must have asked me about Omega and mom if you're watching this. I almost didn't include it. Because…I'm not proud of any of it. I made a massive mistake, and I paid for it. But here's the thing, I know you, and I know that you'll want answers someday…and they're all here. The vids are in chronological order, and I narrated some parts where there's no sound. I uhm…just don't hate me."

The vid that followed was time stamped a few days after they'd argued over Shepard's funeral. Fia was being chased from her apartment across the Citadel. Footage from several different security cameras captured the footage. She managed to escape by ducking into a C-Sec office. She stepped out once the coast was clear and pulled up her omni-tool. He could barely make out the audio.

* * *

"_Mom? Are you there?" Fia kept glancing around her as if expecting to be attacked._

"_Fia, darling, what's the matter?" Patricia's voice was saccharinely sweet._

"_I'm in a spot of trouble." Fia hesitated for a moment._

"_Can't your illustrious father help?" _

"_I don't know," Fia answered._

"_Did you finally figure out that he never wanted you? He just rescued you because it would've looked bad for his career if his daughter was killed by drug dealers." Patricia oozed sympathy._

"_I…"_

"_Come to Omega. I've got plenty of room in my new apartment. You'll be safe here. The Alliance never comes here," Patricia offered._

"_Omega? But…" Fia hesitated once again._

"_I'm forwarding you some messages that I received from the Admiral when you were three. Read them, and then make your decision." _

* * *

Hackett already regretted his desire for answers, but he couldn't turn back now. He waited for the next vid. It was dated the same day that the email she'd tried to send to him. It was footage from Omega. It showed Fia struggling against a group of mercs. One of them slammed her head into a wall, and she immediately stopped fighting.

The rest of the vids that followed were mostly snippets from her time with Cerberus. It was the last one that held most of the answers that he'd been looking for.

* * *

_Fia was strapped to a chair in a Cerberus holding cell when one of the bastards dragged Patricia in._

"_Tell us the Admiral's security codes, or we're going to kill her." He warned before leaving the two women to talk._

"_So, this was your plan? Sell me to Cerberus for credits to buy drugs?" Fia struggled against the restraints. "How's that working out for you?"_

_Patricia got to her feet and began pacing frantically in the cell. "Just give them the damn codes. They'll let you go."_

"_God you are stupid." Fia laughed bitterly. "They aren't going to let me go ever. They kidnapped the fucking daughter of Admiral Hackett. I'm going to end up dead and spaced."_

"_You and your goddamn loyalty to your father. What the hell has he ever done to you aside from ignore you for years? He gave you to someone else to raise, remember? You told me that. He missed your graduation. When was the last time he did a damn thing for you?" Patricia stopped pacing to try to open the door to the cell. "He tried to have you Cat-6'd after Akuze. Hell, did he even visit you in the hospital?"_

"_That may all be true, but it doesn't fucking matter." Fia turned her head to the side. "I don't have the codes even if I wanted to give them."_

"_What?"_

"_They want security codes that I don't have." Fia laughed though it sounded more like sobbing. "Do you honestly think Hackett would share his password with me? He doesn't even remember my birthday. Hell, I don't even think he remembers that I'm his daughter most days, unless, I'm doing something that pisses him off and then he remembers long enough to yell at me."_

"_But they'll kill me if you don't tell them." Patricia sounded desperate._

"_I know, and I find that incredibly satisfying, you goddamn self-absorbed bitch." Fia glanced to her right as the door opened. "Oh look, they're back."_

"_You've got one more chance, give us the codes, or she dies." The Cerberus bastard held a gun to Patricia's head. "Choose, your mother or Hackett."_

"_Hey asshole, he's my father. And any goddamn day, no matter what, I'd choose him over her. So shoot the fucking bitch and then shoot me, because I don't have the codes, and even if I did, I wouldn't give them to Cerberus." Fia fists clenched at her side._

"_We know you have the codes. How else could you sneak into Arcturus station? We have the documented proof that you used an Alliance officer level passcode, we just don't know what the code is." The interrogator shoved Patricia out of the room and then turned his attention back to Fia. When she didn't respond to his question, he slammed his fist into her face and then into her side. "Answer the question."_

"_No."_

_Another series of punches to the abdomen._

"_You can punch me all you want, asshole. I will never give you what you are asking for." Fia spat blood on the floor._

"_And why is that?"_

"_Because he's the goddamn Fleet Admiral and I am an Alliance officer. But more importantly, he's my father and I'd die before I put his life at risk. There is nothing that you will ever do to me that will cause me to give you the code. Not a damn thing." She closed her eyes in anticipation of the next punch._

"_Does he deserve such touching loyalty? This father who abandoned you for his career?" The Cerberus tech was taunting her now._

_Fia opened her eyes and smiled at the man in front of her. "Admiral Hackett is…look…let's just get something straight between us, since I get the feeling we're going to be spending a lot of close personal time together. You can beat me, rape me, and electrocute me again. You can invent new ways to cause me pain. None of it will matter in the end. I won't give you the passcodes, mine or Hackett's. A father's love…even if you don't always see it, it's there. And that…that is something that I will never betray." _

* * *

Hackett felt as if the weight of the entire galaxy had just landed on his chest. His hand trembled slightly as he set the greybox aside. He'd had enough truth to last him a life time. He headed over to his terminal to book immediate passage to Elysium. He needed to tell his daughter something, and it needed to be said in person. He wouldn't intrude on their honeymoon for long.

Fia was lounging by the swimming pool outside their little private rental. Shepard kept trying to entice her into the pool. He'd send sprays of water at her. But the sun felt too good on her skin. She heard a skycar landing in the front; she exchanged a glance with Shepard. Getting to her feet, she grabbed a nearby towel to wrap it around herself and headed around to see who the hell was interrupting their vacation.

"Dad?" She didn't get anything else out because he damn near broke her ribs when he hugged her. "Hey dad, I can't breathe. Ease up."

"Admiral? Is everything ok?" Shepard was standing just behind her still dripping from the pool.

"Don't worry, I'm not staying. I just…" Hackett's arms loosen just a little but not much.

"You watched the files about Omega and Cerberus." Fia hazarded a guess. She glanced back over her shoulder at Shepard; he'd seen the files before she added them to the greybox.

Shepard gave her shoulder a sympathetic squeeze, then headed back towards the house. "You're staying for lunch, Admiral. I'll give you both some privacy until then."

"I am so sorry." Hackett touched a hand to one of the scars on her arm that was left over from Cerberus' torture.

"If I had come to you from the beginning, instead of being so damn angry and proud, this never would've happened. I should have trusted you." Fia shook her head. "You don't owe me an apology. You were…are…hell, you're still ten feet fucking tall to me. I look at you, and I think, damn, that's my dad. I remember the hand that held mine on that shuttle when I was terrified. I can still remember your exact words to me as we walked away from the drug dealer's room to the waiting shuttle. You said, 'You're safe. He can't hurt you again.' And I asked why I should believe you. And you simply said, 'Because I'm your father, and fathers keep their daughters safe'."

"But…"

"Stop." She eased herself gently out of his arms. "I want to show you my tattoo. It was my present to myself after the mess on Akuze. Shepard paid for it, though…I didn't let him see what I got at the time."

She waited to see if he was going to argue, when he didn't. She turned around to show him the two tattoos on her back. They were identical, almost, one on each shoulder blade. They were replicas of the toy alliance soldiers that she'd had as a kid. The only difference was these had dogtags around their necks and wings coming from behind. He stepped closer to look at the tags. He recognized the military id numbers on both, the left was Shepard's on the right was his.

"Guardian angels don't always have halos." She grabbed him by the hand and led him towards the house. "C'mon, let's have lunch. I'm starving."


	18. Chapter 18

**A/N:**

**Bioware owns All…except for Ofelia Hackett, that's my character. Lol**

**Thanks for the follows, favorites and reviews.**

**Read. Enjoy. Review. I appreciate reviews, they keep me inspired to write more. =)**

The messages started almost as soon as Shepard and Fia were back on the _Normandy._ She handled decryptions and decoding for Liara from Liara's old quarters on the ship. Shepard and Hackett had turned the room into an office for Fia. It was a joint wedding present from the two men to her. She'd been touched by it. The messages taunted her and even with her abilities, she wasn't able to trace them.

* * *

_From: Undisclosed Sender_

_To: Ofelia Shepard_

_Subj: Does he know…_

…_what you did_

* * *

Fia had no idea what the message was referring to so she decided to ignore it. Then she received another one.

* * *

_From: Undisclosed Sender_

_To: Ofelia Shepard_

_Subj: Does he know…_

…_what happened on Illium?_

_Does he know what Major Atwell left out of the official report?_

* * *

"Shit." Fia deleted the message and pushed away from the terminal.

There were only three people that knew the truth about the mission on Illium, and one of them had taken the secret to the grave. She paced inside her office for an hour before coming to a decision. She didn't know who was sending the messages, but the first place to start was to figure out if Major Atwell knew.

* * *

_From: Fia Shepard_

_To: Major Atwell_

_Subj: Illium_

_Don't ask me why…but have you heard anything about my first Spec Ops mission lately?_

_Fia_

_._

* * *

_From: Major Atwell_

_To: Fia Shepard_

_Subj: re: Illium._

_No._

_Don't ask me about it again._

_Atwell_

_._

* * *

_From: Undisclosed Sender_

_To: Fia Shepard_

_Subj: re: Illium_

_Now that I have your attention._

_I want you to funnel credits from Admiral Hackett's discretionary fund to the following account number that I've attached via an encrypted file._

_File Attached_

* * *

Fia frowned at the message. _Credits?_ The only person that ever asked her for credits was Patricia. The bitch was definitely behind this but she had help. And it had to be someone that was a damn good hacker. Fia spent the next eight hours securing the _Normandy's _extranet connection. They wouldn't be able to track her messages again.

* * *

_From: Undisclosed Sender_

_To: Fia Shepard_

_Subj: Clever _

_I see you've plugged the hole in the Alliance security._

_You'll pay for that. _

_Who do you think would be most disappointed…your father or your husband?_

_And how would they feel if they knew about that little hack job you did for Aria T'Loak?_

* * *

Assholes always made mistakes, and the bastard had just made his first. The only people who knew that she'd once hacked a server for Aria were her mother and Aria. And the asari queen of Omega wouldn't resort to veiled extranet threats. She had better things to do with her time. Patricia had found a talented fucker.

She wasn't going to be bullied by someone into stealing from the Alliance or her father for that matter. Their family had been torn apart by secrets and lies for too long. She didn't want to start her married life with more of the same. She needed to tell both of them…together.

_Shit._

She headed up to the CIC to find Shepard. He was on the bridge with Joker. They were trading jokes. She listened for a few minutes until Shepard glanced back to see her waiting. He reached out for her but frowned when she evaded his grasp.

"What's wrong?"

"I need us to head back to Vancouver." She fidgeted with her wedding rings.

"Sure, we just have to make a stop…."

"No, Shep, we need to go now." She held up her hand. "It has to be now."

"Fia? What's going on?" He grabbed her arm and walked her all the way down the bridge into the elevator. He waited until they got up to their quarters before asking once again. "What's wrong?"

She just shook her head. "Just get me to Vancouver. I'll explain everything there."

She refused to say anything else until they arrived in Vancouver. She spent her time gathering files and documents from the mission on Illium. She had a lot of explaining to do and she wasn't certain how Hackett was going to respond.

"Will you please tell me what's going on?" Shepard asked while they walked through the Alliance headquarters in Vancouver towards the Admiral's office.

"Just wait." She paused in front of his office. She leaned her head against the door.

Shepard wrapped an arm around her shoulder. "I don't know what's going on, sweetheart. But you aren't alone anymore. See that ring on your finger that means that no matter what, I'm here for you."

She grinned up at him. "Thanks, Shep."

"Anytime, Mrs. Shepard." He winked at her before leading her into the Admiral's office.

"Commander, Ofelia." Hackett looked up at them in surprise. "Aren't you supposed to be heading to Eden Prime?"

"Fia needed to speak with _us._" Shepard stepped back to let Fia explain.

Instead of speaking, she paced the floor in front of Hackett's desk for several long minutes while the two men watched her with growing concern. She wandered over to the window behind her dad's desk to stare out across the courtyard below. She didn't want to see their faces.

"I've been receiving emails lately…I haven't been able to track the source." Her fingers tapped on the windowsill.

"What kind of emails?" Hackett exchanged a glance with Shepard behind her back.

"Threatening." She turned back around to face them. "Blackmail. They wanted me to hack into the discretionary fund and transfer funds into a bank account."

"Threatening?" Shepard sounded calm but she saw the anger in his eyes and his fists were clenched. "When did this start?"

She looked down at the floor. "After we got back from Elysium."

"How soon after, Fia?" He asked.

"The first day we were back on the _Normandy,_" she finally admitted with a sigh.

"That was months ago." Shepard sounded hurt.

"You said blackmail. What do they claim to have to extort you with?" Hackett sat on the edge of his desk and watched her as she started to pace the room again.

"I…" She stopped in the middle of the room. "I can't do this."

Shepard stepped in front of her before she made it to the door. He wrapped his arms around her and leaned down to whisper so her father couldn't hear. "I love you. And nothing is going to change that."

She nodded and let him turn her back around to face her father. He kept his arms around her though. She leaned back against him. "They are threatening me with two pieces of information actually."

"Which are?" Hackett prompted.

"One is…" She hesitated for a moment before continuing. "It involves the brief time that I spent on Omega. I…_helped_ Aria hack a few…systems on the Citadel."

"Alliance systems?" Hackett queried.

"Of course not." She glared at him.

"Then it isn't in my jurisdiction and I don't give a damn." Hackett shrugged as if it was irrelevant. "And the other thing?"

"Involves my first mission under Major Atwell." she didn't think he would be so understanding of this part.

"The friendly fire incident on Illium?" Hackett asked.

"You knew?" She stepped away from Shepard towards her father. "You knew?"

Hackett pulled her into his arms. "Major Atwell told me."

"But why?" She resisted the hug.

"You have enough on your shoulders being _Admiral Hackett's daughter_. I didn't want you to have anything else weighing on you. Did you really think Atwell had the clout to bury that report?" Hackett offered no apologies.

"What friendly fire incident?" Shepard inquired.

"My first spec-ops mission was a cluster-fuck. I ended up taken out a group of Eclipse mercs but my partner was caught in the blast." Fia stepped away from her father to face Shepard. "He wasn't supposed to be there. He's last comm had placed him behind me."

"What I'm more interested in is _who_ is attempting to blackmail you? And why the hell did you wait so long to tell anyone?" Hackett crossed his arms and leaned back against his desk again.

Fia avoided his gaze. "I uh…"

"Who is it?" Shepard reiterated the first question.

"I don't know." She didn't know…all the involved parties…so it was partially true.

"You're biting your lip." Hackett lifted a finger to point at the corner of her mouth.

_Shit._

"I know one of them. But it's got to be more than one, because she couldn't hack her way out of a crate." Fia moved back over to the window. They could stare at her back, the bastards.

"She?" Hackett stepped up to the window to stand beside her. "Patricia?"

"Who else would want credits from me?" Fia shrugged as if it were obvious.

"If you get any more damn emails, you tell one of us, immediately." Hackett wrapped an arm around her shoulders.


	19. Chapter 19

**A/N:**

**Bioware owns All…except for Ofelia Hackett, that's my character. Lol**

**Thanks for the follows, favorites and reviews.**

**Read. Enjoy. Review. I appreciate reviews, they keep me inspired to write more. =)**

Fia paced anxiously in front of the Vid-Comm waiting for Hackett to appear. She'd been holding on to a secret for days now because Shepard had gotten wrapped up in something. She couldn't contain her excitement anymore though, so she'd decided to tell her dad. She stopped pacing when she heard him clear his throat. "Hi. I'm sending you a…something."

"Should I be sitting down for this?" Her dad's eyes narrowed.

"Maybe?"

Hackett looked down to check the message. He stared at in shock for several moments before glancing back up at her. "You're…"

"Yes, about five weeks along."

"I'm going to be a grandfather?" He seemed to struggle with the concept.

"Congratulations, you're officially old." Fia grinned at him.

"Have you told Shepard?"

"Not yet."

"Is it his?"

"You keep that up and you get no visitation rights." She glared at him. "I gotta go dad, I'm not feeling so good."

* * *

Shepard stepped into his quarters to find Fia stretched out on the couch asleep. She'd been taking a lot of naps in the last week. Her hand was clutching a datapad. He draped a blanket over her and started to take the datapad from her when she woke up.

"Shep?"

He sat on the coffee table. "So, do you want to tell me why I received orders from Admiral Hackett to set a course for Vancouver?"

"Why do you assume it has anything to do with me?" She gave him an innocent glance that he didn't buy for a second.

"Mostly because he told me to take special care of you." Shepard knew something was going on. He just didn't know what.

She pointed to the datapad that he'd taken from her. "Read it."

He skimmed through the message on it from Doctor Chakwas. "You're…we're…oh my god."

"If you pass out, I am going to die from laughter." Fia snorted with laughter. "And before you say that I told my dad first, which I did, I want to point out that you have been very busy for days and I did try to tell you yesterday."

"Fine, you'll be pleased to know that we should be docking in Vancouver in a few hours." Shepard lifted her legs so that he could sit on the couch. Fia spun around so that her head was resting in his lap. "So, a baby?"

"A baby."

"We're so screwed." Shepard placed his hand on her abdomen.

"Oh yea, here's hoping the kid is nothing like either of us." Fia groaned. "Because if our child is anything like we were then we are going to need really good attorneys and a lot of insurance."

* * *

A few hours later, Fia and Shepard were being congratulated by the Admiral. Well, Fia was being congratulated. Shepard was being glared at it. Hackett placed a gift in her hands.

"What's this?" Fia looked from the small package in her hand up at her dad.

"Consider it a congratulations present, it's for the baby." Hackett looked…uncomfortable, which was always amusing.

"The baby's like a peanut at this point, I don't think it can play in there." Fia pointed to her non-existent belly.

He gave her a pained look; the '_I'm going to lose my mind in a moment'_ look. She grinned up at him before focusing her attention on opening the gift. She stared down at the little Alliance cruiser in the palm of her hand. The paint was worn off on parts of it. It looked exactly like…

"You kept it?" She tried to blink back the tears that immediately sprung to her eyes. "All these years…I thought you…"

He crushed her into his arms. "That I threw it away? Not a chance, I've kept it either on my desk or beside my bed."

"She's going to cry again, that's all she does lately…and sleep." Shepard ducked when Fia threw the empty box at him.

"That reminds me, Commander. I've got a new assignment for the _Normandy." _Hackett moved back from his daughter and stepped over to speak with Shepard.

The reassignment to Vancouver had made Shepard…cranky. The _Normandy_ was making short trips from city to city on Earth. Hackett and Shepard spent most of their time arguing with each other and trying to wrap Fia in pillows just in case she…was hit by a falling leaf. _Boneheads._ She decided to take a walk along the bay. It helped clear her mind and it eased the tension in her back. She was fifteen weeks along and definitely showing.

She was starting to tire so she turned to head back home when a familiar and unwelcome figure stood in her path. _Patricia. _ Her mother looked like…shit. Either she was going through withdrawals, or she was strung out from too much red sand. Fia slid her hand into the pocket of her jacket to hide the fact that she was sending a quick SOS to Shepard from her omni-tool. At least, she hoped it was Shepard. It wouldn't do much good if the _help_ had gone to Liara who was currently on a dig-site with Javik.

"I want credits." Patricia advanced towards Fia.

_Of course._

"Well hello to you to, _mom_." She rolled her eyes at the pathetic excuse for a woman shaking in front of her. "I'm not giving you a damn thing. I thought I made that clear when you tried to blackmail me. It's the middle of the afternoon and there are people all around us. I suggest that you crawl back into whatever hole you were in and leave me the fuck alone."

Patricia pointed a pistol directly at Fia's stomach. "You want to lose another one of Shepard's babies?"

Her hand instinctively covered her belly. She only had so many options. She could try tackling the bitch, but that might damage the baby. She could try hitting her with an overload but the question remained whether Patricia would be able to get a shot off before Fia pulled her hand out of her pocket.

"You goddamn bitch." Fia was never leaving the house without a weapon again. Hell, when Shepard found out about this, she was never leaving the house _alone_ ever.

"Credits." Patricia shook the gun at her.

"What the hell do you expect me to do? I'm a pregnant woman going for a fucking walk. Do I look like I have access to my bank account right now?" Fia needed to keep her talking long enough for someone to notice the crazy bitch with the gun.

"You can use your omni-tool to transfer credits." Patricia gave her a shrewd look. "You never go anywhere without that damn thing. Transfer the funds or I'll shoot, you know I will."

"And where am I supposed to transfer the funds?" Fia at least had an excuse to pull out her omni-tool.

"The same damn place that you sent the credits to the last time." Her mother stepped closer. She was fidgeting with the gun. Fia hoped to the gods that the damn thing didn't go off accidentally. "Do it, now."

_She really needed to pee. Goddamn bladder._

Fia had to bite down on her lip to not laugh, of all the absurd things to cross her mind. She fucked around with the omni-tool, trying to buy a little more time. She caught movement and glanced up to find the gun and her mother had moved even closer. _Shit._

"Time's up, you little bitch. Forward the credits, now." The gun pressed directly against her stomach.

Fia clenched her fists. If she tried an overload now, the odds were that she'd get a little zapped as well. Her doctor would probably recommend against electrocuting the baby. She closed her eyes for a moment then opened them to send the credits.

"How much do you want this time, _mother_?" She added all the venom she could to that one word.

"Every damn credit you have."

Fia focused her attention back down to her omni-tool. The interesting things always happened when she wasn't looking. Before she could hit send, an arm wrapped gently around her shoulders and spun her around. She found herself staring at her father's back. He'd placed himself directly in the line of fire. She peered around him to find Shepard's hand clamped tightly around the pistol in her mother's hand. He'd twisted her arm up so that the barrel was pointed at her own throat.

"You touch my fucking wife again, and I'll bury you." Shepard snarled at Patricia when she struggled against his hold. "Just give me a fucking reason to make you pull the trigger."

Fia started forward but her dad placed an arm out to stop her. "Dad, stop him. Please?"

"You stay right there." He ordered. He turned his attention back to Shepard. "Commander, let her go. Take care of _my daughter_."

Shepard frowned at Hackett but released Patricia. He stepped around the Admiral and put a protective arm around Fia. They watched Hackett stalk over to her mother. She raised the gun up but his hand wrapped tightly around her throat. His other hand easily unarmed her and tossed the gun aside.

"How many times has she sent credits to support your fucking habit?" Hackett asked. He shook her once, hard. "Answer me, Patricia."

"Ask your precious daughter." Patricia spat in his face.

"I'm _asking_ you." His hand tightened around her neck.

"Too many to count." She finally answered.

"And how many lies have you told her about the day that I came to save her?" His fingers kept a tight grip on her.

"Steven."

He ignored her plea and dragged her over to stand in front of his daughter. "Tell her the truth for once, Patricia. Tell her the truth about how I found out about her. Because she doesn't know everything, does she?"

"Dad?"

"Tell her before I squeeze the life out of you." Hackett's fingers tightened ever so slightly.

"I put you up for sale on the extranet." Patricia's voice was barely a whisper. "I was auctioning you off to the highest bidder. Hackett found it. He threatened me with the might of the Alliance, but in the end, the only thing he could do was try to be the highest bidder. And he was. He gave every damn credit that he had."

"And you gave me to the dealer anyway." Fia started towards the woman but Shepard restrained her.

"Admiral?"

Hackett looked up to find a group of Alliance soldiers waiting. He shoved Patricia into their custody. "Lock her up. You might want to contact Commander Bailey on the Citadel. I think he might find that he's missing a prisoner."

Fia breathed a sigh of relief, watching her father kill her mother wasn't really high on the list of things that she wanted to see today. "So, that was…fun."

Hackett stepped in front of her. "Are you ok?"

"Oh I'm …not feeling so good." She grabbed onto Shepard's arm for support. "I think I'm done walking now."

A shout from nearby caught their joint attention. They all turned to see Patricia running away from the soldiers. She had a pistol in her hand as she ran towards them. Hackett stepped in front of Fia while Shepard started towards the armed woman. Hackett wrapped his arms around his daughter and pressed her face into his shirt.

"Let me go, Dad." She tried to push him away.

"You don't need to see this." Hackett watched over his shoulder while the Commander slammed into Patricia with a biotic charge. The energy sent her flying into a nearby building. From the force of the impact, Hackett had no doubt that she died on impact. Shepard knelt beside the body to check for a pulse, he shook his head at the Admiral then started back towards them.

"I am not a child; I was on Akuze for crying out loud." Fia huffed in annoyance.

Hackett moved his hands to her arms and eased her back so he could look her in the eyes. "She's dead. And for the record, you will always be my little girl."


	20. Chapter 20

**A/N:**

**Well…I decided that the last chapter was…the last chapter lol. I might right a prequel at some point or a series of one-shots to cover Fia & Shepard's relationship as teenagers.. But we'll see. I've got too many other stories lol.**


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